Chapter 12: Wrong Place, Wrong Time
It was just after five when Chloe awoke. She'd expected to find Oliver by her side, but reaching out she found the space next to her in the bed was empty. Surprised rather than alarmed, she quickly dressed and made her way down to the basement of the Queen mansion, now transformed into the Green Arrow's base of operations. All was silent as she made her way towards Oliver's personal armoury, the place where he kept his costume and collection of bows. Roy had gone out for the night, and AC was still asleep in the room he'd been given for the duration of his stay, located on the opposite side of the large, open plan area that was at the heart of the League's headquarters. Victor, of course, had spent the night on patrol with Oliver. Chloe guessed that the two of them had spent the last few hours reminiscing about old times, and that that was the reason why neither of them had yet returned to base. They both loved their bikes, and she had visions of them tearing up the empty streets of the city, racing each other like a couple of over-excited teenagers. Not for a second did she think anything was wrong; they would have called in if they'd run into trouble, and besides – after the fall of Minetti, who was there left to take them on?
Using her access code, Chloe opened the door to the armoury and stepped inside. It was a relatively small room, dominated by the array of bows and other weapons which covered one wall. Ahead of her was a computer, whilst to her left was a closet and a shower unit. Stepping forward, she entered her password and logged on to the League's secure network. She wanted to find out where Oliver was; if he was on the other side of the city she intended to call him up and tell him that his fiancé felt neglected, and that it was high time he came home and made it up to her. A couple of clicks and she was looking at a map of the city, Oliver's tracker blinking reassuringly. He wasn't on the other side of town after all; in fact, it looked as if he was only about a minute's ride away from base.
It was then that Chloe had an idea. Whenever Oliver returned from a patrol he went straight to the armoury to change out of his leathers and take a shower. Why not surprise him? She could hide in the closet – what a shock he'd get when he opened it up to find her waiting for him! Serve him right for staying out all night when their wedding was just a few days away. And then she could help him undress, maybe take a shower together…
The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Grinning from ear to ear like an excited school girl, she pulled open the closet door and eased herself inside. The hiding place was perfect – with the door slightly ajar she had a clear view of almost the entire room. Caught up in the moment, she didn't pause to wonder where Victor was, why Oliver was returning home alone…..
Two minutes later and Bates was striding towards the armoury. He still felt pumped up after the events of an hour or so earlier. Killing came easily to him, but he'd got a special kick out of offing Victor Stone. It wasn't just because Stone was a member of the Justice League, although that helped. It was more because right up until the end he'd kept up the pretence that he was Oliver Queen. As far as Stone knew it was Oliver who had betrayed him, Oliver who'd tortured him and then plunged that knife into his chest. The look of sheer incomprehension in the guy's eyes at the end, the blind terror as he realised his friend was going to kill him… It had given Bates a buzz like nothing on earth. And there was more to come, of course. Curry was next up. He'd got something special planned for Aquaman, something which would make this operation even more profitable for himself. Desaad and Goodness wouldn't like it, but Bates didn't care; they needed him, and so long as AC ended up dead he figured they'd soon get over themselves. They wanted that meteor rock, and he was the only one who could give it to them – that meant that he called the shots, whatever Goodness said.
Entering the armoury, he hung up the bow he'd used to take down Victor. Unaware that just a few feet away Chloe was watching him through the crack in the closet door, he then pulled his cell from the inside pocket of his tunic. He had an important call to make, one which was essential if his plot to take down AC was to go ahead as scheduled.
Motionless, Chloe said nothing. She could see that Bates was about to make a call, and for the first time she felt a pang of doubt. Maybe surprising Oliver wasn't such a good idea after all. It didn't seem right to listen in on a call like this, but she was committed now – after all, she and Oliver didn't have any secrets from each other, right?
"Durham, it's me… Yeah, everything's good," began Bates. "Just giving you a call to see whether your boss is willing to accept my terms… Ten million, that's right – in cash."
"Durham? Who's Durham?" thought Chloe to herself. The name was ringing a bell somewhere in the back of her head, but she couldn't quite place it. And what was this deal Oliver was talking about? She wasn't aware of Queen Industries making any major acquisitions, but if not that, then what?
"No, you can tell him it's ten million, or the deal's off," continued Bates, suddenly irritated; whoever was at the other end of the line, Chloe could tell they were driving a hard bargain.
"Listen, this isn't a fucking negotiation. You can tell Black Manta that if he wants Curry he pays me the ten million, as agreed – otherwise I'm handing surf boy over to Desaad, and he gets nothing, okay?"
Angry that things weren't panning out quite as he'd planned, Bates didn't hear the gasp of horror from inside the closet. Chloe's head was spinning. She now remembered where she'd heard the name Durham before. He was Black Manta's right hand man, the same Black Manta who'd sworn to kill AC and who'd spent the best part of year scouring the oceans of the world trying to track him down. And now here was Oliver, offering to hand AC over to his arch enemy in return for money?! The whole thing was insane – totally, utterly insane. Unless….. unless this was part of plan, a plan on the part of Oliver to capture his friend's nemesis by luring him into a trap. That was the only thing that made sense to Chloe, but if that was the case, why hadn't Oliver said anything? She was Watchtower – he shared everything with her. None of this made any sense – no sense at all…..
There was a long pause. Bates stood, waiting for a reply to his demands. Chloe also waited, wondering what on earth was going on….
"So that's a yes?" asked Bates finally, sounding relieved. "That's great…. Yeah, yeah, no changes to the plan. I'll make sure he's there – just you make sure your men are in place, okay?"
Chloe held her breath. It was obvious a deal had been done – what next?
"No, it'll be just me and Curry. Stone's dead – we killed him a couple of hours ago. Dumb fuck – he still didn't figure it out, not even when I stuck the knife in his heart…. Queen? No, Desaad's got him locked up. You should see what he's doing to him, Cal. You think your boss is twisted – I tell you, he's got nothing on this guy…"
Inside the closet, Chloe was reeling. It was too much to take in. Victor dead, Oliver a prisoner, the man she thought was Oliver not only an imposter, but a cold blooded killer – how could this be happening? It was like something from a horror story, only this was real. Suddenly she felt afraid – more afraid than she'd ever felt in her life before….
"Tomorrow, then…Yeah, look forward to it. Take care, Cal – bye."
The call was over. Terrified, Chloe watched as Bates turned towards the closet. Unzipping his tunic, he reached for the door handle…..
In a split second, Chloe made her decision. Bursting out of the closet, she knocked Bates sideways and lunged for the armoury door. It was an instinctive act, but one born out of desperation. There was no way she could have bluffed her way past Bates and pretend she hadn't heard what had been said; her only hope was to escape and warn AC before it was too late. For a moment it seemed as if her plan might work. Stunned by Chloe's sudden appearance, Bates appeared paralysed, standing open-mouthed as Chloe grabbed the armoury door and pulled it open. She flung herself forwards, but in her eagerness to reach the relative safety of the room beyond she tripped and stumbled. It was a costly mistake. Recovering quickly, Bates flew at Chloe. He was on her in a second, tackling her to the floor. She struggled, but he was too strong for her; a moment later and he was lying on top of her, his weight making it impossible for her to wriggle free.
"Hey, what's going on out there?"
It was AC, calling out from his room.
Chloe opened her mouth to cry for help, but Bates was too quick for her.
"Not a sound, do you hear?" he hissed, clamping his hand tightly over Chloe's mouth. "Not a sound, or you're both dead!"
Petrified, Chloe froze. She didn't doubt for a moment that Bates would make good on his threat; he might have looked like Oliver, but the eyes that stared down at her were those of a killer….
"Sorry, bro – just dropped some weights," shouted Bates. He sounded calm, even relaxed; if Chloe was hoping he would give himself away, she was immediately disappointed.
"Dude, you gotta stop with these early morning workouts," replied AC. "Some of us need our beauty sleep, yeah?"
"No problem – I'll try to keep it down, I promise."
There was silence for a few moments. Bates, his heart pumping furiously in his chest, stared at the door to AC's room, waiting to see if he would emerge. Seconds passed. Finally, convinced that the danger had passed, he turned back to Chloe.
"Now you and me are going to go back to the armoury, and you're not going to make a sound, understand?"
To reinforce his point, he pulled a knife from his belt and pressed it to Chloe's throat. Then, slowly, the two of them got to their feet. Holding her tightly by the arm and keeping the blade against her skin, he then guided her back inside the armoury, quietly closing the door behind them. Only then did he let her go. Freed from his grip, Chloe darted to the far side of the room. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Bates as possible, but it didn't alter the reality of the situation. She was trapped, and they both knew it.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, trying and failing to hide the fear in her voice.
"I guessed you'd be trouble, and I was right," said Bates, ignoring her questions. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, Chloe, I really am. But you know too much – I can't let you go…"
"What? What are you going to do to me?"
Bates began to move towards Chloe, the knife still held firmly in his right hand.
"It won't hurt, I promise. Just hold still – it will all be over before you know it."
Is this the end for Chloe? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out...
Hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks to Pechika, Blaker and ESpa44 for taking the time to review the last instalment - it's great to get feedback, and to know that people are still reading. Please let me know what you think of this one - all reviews are appreciated!
