A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and Pm'd. Also thank you for all of the favourite author and story adds. I really do appreciate all of your comments.
Huge thanks to Purdy's Pal, DaisyDay and JediSkysinger for reading through this for me and for making me smile every single day.
11
Fiona jumped back from the window and gasped in a shaky breath. Her heart hammered inside her chest and the headache she'd had only moments ago dispersed in the wake of dread that rampaged around her. She clamped her eyes closed for a few seconds while she tried to think of what she was going to do next…
Stepping backwards she practically ran out of Cailtin's room to make her way into the bedroom that she shared with Michael. Her eyes flittered around the room, a plan already formulating inside her mind as she rushed to the larger closet to yank the door open to peer inside. Reaching up to the highest shelf she lifted a large trunk down and placed it onto the bed before she lifted the lid to look down at the arsenal of weapons inside the box.
She knew there were enough weapons in the box to take down a small army; the only problem was that she was the only shooter. She was in the process of rifling through the various guns when she heard the front door open and every rational thought disappeared when she heard Madeline's voice greeting someone at the door.
Acting on instinct she grabbed her SIG from her bag that was hanging in the closet and flew out of the room as fast as she could, screaming Caitlin's name at the top of her lungs. Her voice startled her daughter who was standing beside her grandmother looking terrified as she clung to Madeline's leg. Fiona sped into the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with Barry.
"Fiona," he gasped and held his hands in the air looking just as terrified as Caitlin. "What the hell's going on? I got a call from Mike to get over here and when I do you point a gun in my face?"
Swallowing hard Fiona lowered her gun and pushed passed him to get to the door, locking it tight before she moved towards the window to hold the blind back a little so that she could see through the tiny gap.
"Did you see the lawn service out there?" She asked in a voice that shook when she tried to get her words out. "BARRY!"
Lowering his hands Barry nodded in confusion as he glanced back to Madeline who was just as much in the dark as he was. "Yeah…some truck with a trailer…"
"Did you see a woman out there?" she asked in a hiss, her eyes filling with fire as she spoke. "Barry?"
"Yeah…Yeah, I did…she was with two guys…" he told her as he shook his head, still trying to fathom what was wrong. "Fi—"
Fiona's eyes suddenly glazed over when she met her little girl's terrified stare. Moving forward she placed her gun on a high shelf beside the door before she turned and reached down to tug her daughter into her arms.
"I'm sorry baby," she whispered shakily when the tears tumbled down her cheeks. "I didn't mean to scare you…I'm so sorry."
Madeline looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms before her eyes dropped to Fiona and Caitlin. She caught the younger woman's gaze and she lowered the baby towards Fiona when she sat down onto the floor taking both of her daughter's with her.
"Madeline, I need you to take Barry and the girls into the bathroom in my room and stay out of sight—"
"Mammy…" Caitlin's eyes filled with terrified tears when she clung to her and wouldn't let go. "I don' want ta stay wit' nana…"
"It's for a little while baby…" Fiona whispered as she slowly manoeuvred Meaghan so that she could kneel up to Caitlin's height. "I know you're scared but I need to keep you safe and until daddy gets back I want you to stay with nana and Barry…okay?"
"Is daddy comin' home?" Caitlin asked, her bottom lip trembling as she wrapped her arms around her mother. "I want him ta come home."
"He's coming as fast as he can baby," Fiona told her, pulling her tighter against her. "But I need you to go with nana and stay in the bathroom in my room until I tell you it's safe to come out, okay?"
Caitlin held Fiona tighter and rested her wet cheek against hers; nodding her head even though she didn't know what was going on.
"Good girl," Fiona told her with a tearful smile. "I want you to go into your room with Barry and get some books but stay away from the window okay."
"Okay…" turning her head towards Barry, Caitlin regarded him warily until he broke out into a smile.
"Well now little lady," he grinned as he stepped forward to hold out his hand. "How about you show me where you keep all of your books and I'll help you carry them."
Clinging to her mother, Caitlin turned to look at her and lifted herself upwards when she smiled reassuringly and nodded her head.
"Do ya want me ta get some toys fer Meaghan too?"
Fiona swiped at a tear that slipped down her cheek when she gazed down at the sleeping baby in her arms. Her girls didn't deserve this life, not when all she wanted to do was allow them to live normally. Lifting her eyes back up to her eldest daughter she reached forward and pressed a kiss onto her forehead and closed her eyes briefly before she nodded.
"You stay out of sight baby," she told her firmly. "Promise me."
"I'll stay with Barry," Caitlin nodded before she reached up to take hold of Barry's hand and led him towards her room.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Fiona got to her feet and kissed the child in her arms before she reluctantly handed her over to Madeline. As soon as she saw that Meaghan hadn't woken up, Fiona turned back towards the shelf and grabbed her gun, holding it out to Madeline who was looking her in confusion.
"Take this," she told her quietly, keep it with you and if anyone comes through that door who isn't me, Michael or Sam I want you to shoot them."
"Honey, I don't want to take a gun anywhere near my grandbabies," Madeline told her, shaking her head adamantly. "Now why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on."
"Madeline we don't have time for this," Fiona hissed as she moved towards the windows to peek through the blinds. "Marie is out there…she's coming to take my daughter and I won't let her."
Sudden awareness sparked in Madeline's eyes and she looked towards the doors before she clutched Meaghan tighter against her. Nodding her head she took a step closer and took the gun from Fiona's hand and moved towards the couch to drop it into her bag before she lifted the strap over her shoulder.
"I'll do it, but keep Barry out here with you…at least until Michael gets here."
"Barry?" Fiona scoffed, "are you seriously suggesting I—"
"He can at least look out for you," Madeline told her, lowering her voice when Meaghan mewed in her sleep. "It's one more pair of eyes."
Fiona glanced behind her when Barry came back into the room with a pile of books tucked under his arm, trailing Caitlin behind him. She could see her daughter's worried eyes and something inside her broke apart to bring a sting of emotion to her eyes.
"Okay," she nodded, blinking defiantly. "Caitlin, I want you to stay with nana and Meaghan. Don't come out for anything, baby…promise me."
Caitlin moved towards her mother and wrapped one arm around her legs before she nodded her head, still in a state of confusion. Taking a deep breath, Fiona tried to calm her raging heartbeat when she threaded her fingers through Caitlin's hair. She knew her daughter was afraid and most of that was due to Marie, but she had to hold some of the blame too. Moving back slightly she lowered herself downward so that she was on her knees. Leaning forward she pressed a kiss onto Caitlin's cheek and wrapped her arms around her.
"Aunt Marie is outside and she wants to take you from us," she told her, keeping her voice low as she spoke. Caitlin gasped and pulled away from her, shaking her head from side to side.
"I don't want ta go wit' har—"
"You're not going anywhere baby," Fiona told her reassuringly. "That's why I want you to go with nana and stay out of sight. I don't want you to hear the things I'm going to say to her."
Realisations dawned in Caitlin's eyes and a slow smile crept over her lips. "Are ya goin' ta swear?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation Fiona was relieved to hear her daughter's innocent question and for a moment she took solace in the fact that soon this would all be like one big adventure for her. Placing a kiss onto Caitlin's forehead she smiled against her and nodded when she pulled away.
"I think there will be a lot of swearing baby," she told her softly. "And I don't want you to hear any of it."
Pulling away from Fiona Caitlin smiled up at her mother and held her arms open to take a hold of the pile of books that Barry carefully placed in her arms.
"Are you sure you're okay with those?" Barry asked her when her arms became laden. "Let me take some for you."
Shaking her head adamantly Cailtin smiled up at him and clutched the books tighter. "I can do it."
"Well then sweetheart," Madeline told her softly, hoping she could keep the worry from her voice. "Let's get out of sight so your mom can deal with all of this."
"Okay," she nodded as she turned to look back towards Fiona and grinned. "Come on nana, I'll show ya where it is."
"I'm coming honey," she called before she turned back to Fiona. "Don't get yourself hurt okay, these girls need you."
"I won't," Fiona promised softly when she watched her mother in law taking her precious daughter's away from her.
"Okay," Barry's voice brought her attention back to him and she mentally shook herself when he stared at her wide eyes. "What are we doing here exactly?"
Within seconds Fiona's eyes returned to the windows before she cast him a look that was between desperate and deadly serious. "I need you to be alert Barry…some bitch is trying to steal my baby and I'm going to stop her."
Barry's mouth opened and closed as he tried to formulate some kind of reply but no words would come out. He watched in a daze when Fiona turned away from him and sped out of the family room before he could even utter a word. There were sounds coming from the bedroom but he couldn't move, fear of both the situation and the psychotic little Irish woman who came charging back out from the way she came only moments later.
Dropping a heavy box by his feet she bent down to pull a Sig 556 out and shoved it towards him, glaring at him impatiently when he looked at the gun in her hands.
"Take it. It's loaded so try not to shoot yourself okay!"
Reaching out to take the gun from her hands he regarded her worriedly before she turned away from him to delve inside the box once more, ignoring his rambling questions as she pulled a rifle out and loaded it right before his eyes.
When she turned back around she nodded towards him and motioned him to move towards the kitchen and wait there while she checked the rest of the house. He watched her leave and silently wished he'd have listened to himself when he'd told himself that coming back to Miami was a bad idea…
000
By the time Michael and Sam arrived back at the house they could already see that the lawn service truck was parked right across the front of the house, cleverly concealing the view from any of the neighbouring houses.
"Okay," Sam sighed when he lifted his gun in his hand. "What's the plan brother? How do you want to play this?"
Michael stared across to the house where his family were trapped in and tried to think of how they were going to get inside. He knew by now that Fiona would have realised something was wrong and would no doubt have the arsenal of weapons ready beside her. He tried to formulate some kind of plan in his mind when Sam's voice broke into his thoughts.
"We could go in through the garage…all you need to do is open it just enough for us to get through."
"The garage makes too much noise," Michael theorised. "If Fiona thinks it's them coming through the door she'll shoot us before we get inside…no, I have another idea."
"Yeah?" Sam asked him waiting for him to advise him on the plan when the woman in the back seat gasped and pointed towards the back of the truck.
"There's me husban'," she gasped, pointing towards the man who emerged from the side of the truck looking every bit as distressed as his wife was. "Tha's Ryan."
Michael sat up further in his seat and narrowed his eyes when another man appeared to come up behind Katherine's husband to grab hold of his arm, yanking him back behind the truck.
"They're goin' ta kill him," Katherine muttered, her voice rising with hysteria as she looked for a way to get out of the car. "Ya have ta le' me ou'."
"Calm down," Sam hissed when he turned his head to glare at the woman seated behind him. "We'll get him outta there but ya have to—"
"They have me husban'," she snapped back. "I have ta—"
"THEY HAVE MY DAUGHTER'S…" Michael's voice boomed when he half turned in his seat to glower at the woman behind him. With the murderous look in his eyes she shrank back in her seat and bit her lip. "NOW…if you let us do our job you'll get your husband back but you have to help us by being QUIET!"
Katherine nodded her head and looked out of the window, blinking hard when Michael snatched his eyes away from her to return to the truck parked outside his house.
"If we can get around to the garage I can get in through the skylight," Michael spoke aloud, speaking more to himself that anyone else. "We need some kind of distraction…"
Sam regarded his friend thoughtfully before he gaged the size of the skylight in the roof. Sure Michael could get onto the roof but the window was far too small for him to fit through. Turning to the woman in the back seat he tapped Michael's arm and pointed to the garage.
"We should send her up. She can climb through that gap easier than you can. Marie and O'Neil won't be expecting to see her here."
"Neither will Fi, Sam," Michael sighed. "But you're right…if they're only looking for us—"
"Wait, wha' are tha two a ya goin' on abou'?" Katherine asked, her mouth agape. "Ya no' be havin' me climin' no walls…I ain't such a youngun anymore ya know."
"It's the only way we're going to save Mike's girls and ya husband," Sam told her, irritation seeping into his words. "Now, are you in or are we going to have to lock you in the car?"
Katherine sighed and glanced back towards the garage roof and back to the lawn service truck before she sat forward.
"Okay, I'll do it bu' ya have ta keep Ryan safe. Marie's crazy…she can' see past tha babby."
"We'll keep him safe but that all depends if you get inside and convince Fiona you're not there to steal our daughter," Michael told her, his eyes deadly serious.
"I'll find a way," Katherine nodded. "I woul' never le' any woman take a child."
"Okay then…" reaching into his pocket he pulled out a folded piece of paper that Caitlin had drawn on for him the day before and handed it to her. "When you get inside give this to Fiona, she'll know you're with us."
"An' wha' do ya wan' me ta say ta har?"
"Tell her Marie wants Meaghan," he told her, his voice catching when he spoke his youngest daughter's name. Reaching for his keys he unclasped one from the key fob and passed it to her. "This is for the adjoining door from the garage into the house."
"Okay, an' wha' do ya wan' me ta do if yer missus comes at me wit' a gun in har hand?"
Before Michael could utter a word, Sam leaned across the seat and offered her a lopsided grin as he muttered one single word. "Pray…"
Katherine's mouth opened and closed as she looked down at the items in her hand. She had been thrust into this bizarre twist of events the moment Marie turned up on her front step and now she was wishing that she should have just turned her away. Giving herself a mental shake she focused on the task at hand…a little girl needed her to do this, and she wasn't about to let her crazy cousin steal someone's child.
"Okay, le's ge' movin'," she nodded before she had a chance to talk herself out of it. "I ain' getting' any younger."
000
Inside the house Fiona had gone from one end to the other checking every possible entrance as she moved. Barry watched on nervously when she prowled the floor like a caged tiger, her finger poised on the trigger of the gun in her hand.
Sudden movement outside caused her to walk towards the centre of the room, her arms outstretched as she moved. Taking a slow step she eased a strip of the blinds apart just enough to catch a glimpse of movement outside. Swallowing hard, her finger tightened on the trigger and then suddenly all hell broke loose at once.
Sam's voice could be heard outside and she was filled with some sense of relief until the adjoining door to the garage opened and Barry yelled at the intruder who stepped through. Turning sharply Fiona moved towards them and pointed the gun at the woman who instantly threw her hands in the air.
"Don' shoot," she gasped. "I ain' here ta take yer babby."
Fiona's moved closer, her eyes unblinking when she calmly told Barry to move away as she surged forward with a speed that caught both Barry and Katherine by surprise. Grabbing hold of Katherine's arm she yanked her away from the door and ordered Barry to shoot her if she moved before she cautiously looked through into the garage to see if anyone else was hiding in there. Finding no one she pulled the door closed and made a grab for her keys as she relocked the door.
"How the HELL did you get in here?" she growled, the gun unwavering at Katherine's head. "Are you with her?"
"No, I ain' wit' tha' crazy cousin a mine, I swear ta ya," Katherine told her breathlessly. "Yer hubby sent me, he told me ta give ya somethin'…he said yer'd know tha' he sent me cos a tha picture yer babby drew fer him…an' he gave me tha key ta tha' door over thare."
Fiona watched suspiciously when Katherine slowly lowered her hand to reach into her back pocket to pull out the folded piece of paper that Michael had given her. She met Fiona's fierce gaze and handed it to Barry along with the silver key that Michael had thrust at her.
Barry took them from her and watched her cautiously for any signs that she had a hidden weapon but when she stepped back and held her hands up in surrender he swallowed nervously.
"I don't think she's here to steal Caitlin, Fi—"
"I'll decide that," Fiona snapped, her voice slicing through his when she took the paper and key from his hands.
"Caitlin?" Katherine asked in confusion. "Marie didn' say anythin' abou' Caitlin."
Fiona only half listened when she unfolded the paper in her hand to reveal the familiar picture that Caitlin had drawn for Michael when she was having breakfast the day before. Her eyes clouded over and she gasped in a breath when she realised that Michael would never have given this to anyone unless…
"How do I know you didn't just take this?" she asked as she raised her gun again, pointing it at the woman opposite her.
Katherine raised her hands again and glanced at the spikey haired man beside her who was looking just as concerned as she was. Her mind swirled in images that caused her heart to race inside her chest and she shook her head when Katherine's words from only a few moments ago registered inside her brain.
"What do you mean she didn't mention Caitlin?" she asked angrily, her hand poised and unwavering when she cast Katherine with a scrutinising stare. "She's here for my daughter."
"She's here fer tha babby…"
"Yes MY baby," Fiona growled. "Caitlin."
Katherine shook her head and blinked hard before she took a deep breath. She knew that Marie was insane. Ever since she had arrived she had talked about nothing else but the child she was going to take home and up until a few hours ago she hadn't even known the little girl's name.
"I hate ta be tha one ta tell ya bu' she wants ya little one, tha babby…" she tried to reach into her memories to remember the name that Michael had spoken with the same amount of fear that was already present in Fiona's eyes. Within moments the name burst into her mind and it slipped from her tongue in a burst of words. "She wan's Meaghan."
Both Barry and Katherine watched as the colour slowly drained from Fiona's face and her eyes flittered towards the back of the room. Shaking her head from side to side she pointed the gun at Katherine, her eyes filling as she moved closer.
"You're lying."
"I promise ya I ain' lyin'…she brough' someone wit' har an' yer hubby knew who it wa'…I woul' never help ta take a babby away from har mammy." Lowering her hands again Katherine shook her head emphatically as she continued, her voice shaking as she spoke. "Bobby O'Neil, yer man said he knew someone who coul' be related ta him."
"Thomas O'Neil?" Fiona asked in disbelief as she lowered her gun.
"Aye, yer man sai' tha same name…if he's anythin' like tha man she turned up wit' he'll be a righ' bastard..am I righ'?"
"You don't know how right you are," Fiona nodded. Looking down at the picture again she gave herself a mental shake and refolded it to place it onto the table before she moved towards the windows. A sudden thud sounded when something landed against the door followed by a string of obscenities. Moving back from the window Fiona backed up and pointed her gun at the door and the window, her heart beat drowning out any other sound in the room.
"Uh…Fi," Barry asked cautiously when he turned to face her and pointed his own gun towards the window. "There's someone unlocking the door."
Fiona's eyes flared wildly and she moved across to the stash of guns she had brought in with her and picked out another one so that she had one in each hand. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears along with the rush of adrenalin that raced through her body. Whoever was here to take her child she would kill them regardless if it was Marie or not.
Katherine moved quickly, walking to stand behind Barry as she grasped onto his shirt nervously. She could see the sweat droplets forming on his forehead and she had to admit to herself that she was terrified of what was going on.
Everything happened so fast…
Michael's voice yelled out amid the door flying open. Barry squeezed his trigger and a loud booming sound filled the air along with the acrid smell that lingered around them. In the seconds it took for Fiona to realise that it was Michael who'd opened the door she screamed out a warning but it was too late.
The bullet had already hit its target…
TBC