Thirty-six
Julia meandered her way back to where she'd left her. She knew she didn't have long to wait as she could hear the sirens in the distance. She walked up the little hill which had a nice vantage point of the house below. She walked over to where she was lying on the ground and stared at her for a moment. If she wasn't carrying his child, she would have killed her already. Unfortunately, at this point, she was still necessary. Though Julia knew that wouldn't be for too much longer.
She knelt down and rolled her over. She had no clue why Jack was so obsessed by this woman. What was it about her that possessed him so? She'd broken his heart time and time again and still he always came crawling back to her. If Julia didn't know any better, she'd swear she was a witch and had cast some sort of magic spell on him. Well, she'd show her. She'd get Jack back and more. Glaring at her, she slapped her cheek to rouse her.
Carly raised a hand to her cheek. What the hell was going on? She blinked a few times, uncertain of her surroundings. It was dark, cold and she was outside lying on the ground. Her head was throbbing uncontrollably, both on her cheek and at the back of her head. She couldn't remember why or how she'd gotten there.
"Up!" a familiar voice snarled. Carly blinked a few more times and focused on the face speaking to her. Memories of the night came flooding back along with the fear. Carly glanced around and realized that they were still near her house. She slowly sat up, reaching for the back of her head to try and stop the pounding. It ached from where Julia had hit her. As she got to her feet she heard the sirens. They were getting louder, which meant they were getting closer. She turned to try and locate them.
"Don't get any wise ideas," Julia said. "Jack may be on his way, but you won't be seeing him any time soon."
Carly stared daggers at Julia as she chose her next words carefully. "No matter where you go or what you do… if you hurt me or this baby, Jack will kill you."
Julia laughed. "Trust me, Jack will get over it. Sure, he'll be upset at first. But you left him before and he moved on. He'll do it again. For now though, I need to keep you quiet. At least until you're needed. Now be good," she said as she spun her around and grabbed her hands.
Carly fought back yanking away from her and took off down the hill as quickly and as carefully as she could. However, Julia was quicker and she caught up with her. She ran in front of her and blocked her way. Holding up the knife she'd pulled out earlier, she took a menacing step towards Carly.
"Don't force me to hurt that child," she warned her. "I won't think twice about it." Carly didn't answer her, but Julia could tell she was giving up the fight. At least for now. She grabbed her arms again, harder this time and tied them up behind Carly's back. She then proceeded to place a gag in her mouth.
The sirens were very loud now. Julia turned around and saw the procession of vehicles pulling up the street. She smiled. This was perfect. She'd have a large audience for the show she had planned. She watched as they got out of their cars and waited for instructions. It was then that they both saw him. Jack stepped out of his car and hurried over to give orders to the other officers. Now was the time. Julia took a cell phone out of her pocket, dialed and waited.
Carly watched her. She was standing with her back to her. She quickly looked around to see if there was anyway she could get away from her without being caught. Slowly she took a step, careful not to make a sound. But then Carly suddenly stopped when she heard Julia speak.
Jack arrived at his house in record time. The car that he and Daryl discovered was Julia's was parked in the driveway and the lights were on in the house. He was giving instructions to the other officers, when his phone rang. "Hold on a minute," he said gruffly to the other officers. Who the hell could be calling him at this moment?
"Snyder."
"Hello Jack."
Jack stopped breathing. A warning of danger tickled his spine instantly. He motioned for the other officers to hold back for a moment before proceeding with their orders. As calmly as he could he responded. "Julia," he said quietly.
"I'm touched that you remember the sound of my voice. It's been such a long time since we last talked," she said sickeningly sweet.
"Yes, it's been a long time. So are you still here in town?"
"Oh Jack," she laughed. "Always the cop. So I guess this means we're done with the pleasantries. That's not really what you want to know though, is it? Don't you really want to ask me if I've seen Carly? "
Jack swallowed. He already knew the answer by her response. A part of him was terrified to hear her say it aloud, but he had to know. "Where is she, Julia?" Jack was sure that all the officers around him could hear his heart pounding in his chest, for it was thumping loudly in his own ears.
Julia smiled. Everything was playing out exactly the way she'd planned. "Would you like to talk with her?" she offered.
Jack exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The need to hear her voice consumed him. He would be able to tell if she was ok when he heard her voice. "Yes. Yes, I would like to speak to Carly," he said his voice cracking with emotion. He had no idea how long he'd get to speak with her and so he would need to be careful with he said and the questions he asked.
"Give us just a second. You see, she's a bit tied up at the moment," Julia chuckled. She turned around and walked over to Carly. Leaning in, she gave her a warning. "If you try and tell him where you are or give him any information… you and your baby will regret it."
Jack heard the exchange and rage tore through him as he began to pace. He had to find Carly. The thought of her at the mercy of that lunatic scared the hell out of him. There were some muffled sounds and then a long, excruciating silence. Then he heard her voice.
"Jack?" Carly whispered tentatively.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief. She didn't sound hurt or in pain, but he could detect the fear and anxiousness in her voice. She was scared.
"Carly, I'm here baby. Has she hurt you?"
"No," she said glancing at Julia. Since Carly's hands were still tied, she was holding the phone. "I'm sorry Jack," Carly said as the emotion of the moment began to overwhelm her. "I'm so sorry that I lied to you about going with Rosanna," she cried as the tears filled her eyes.
"Oh honey, don't worry about that right now. It's not important." Hearing her cry was breaking his heart and further increasing the desperation he was feeling to find her. He needed to figure out where she was and how he was going to rescue her. "I'm not going to let her hurt you or the baby. I promise you that," he told her fiercely.
At that moment, Julia snatched the phone away from Carly and placed the gag back in her mouth. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Jack. I would have thought you'd have learned that lesson by now," Julia sneered.
Anger consumed Jack. "If you hurt her Julia, I will find you and I will kill you. And don't worry, that's a promise I will keep," he seethed.
"Promises, promises. You've promised lots of things to me in the past Jack, but how many have you actually kept? Hmmm? How many? I can tell you… NONE," she yelled. She quickly smoothed her hair back out of her face. She was too close to achieving her goal to loose control of her emotions. She reigned herself in. "But that's in the past. Let's get down to business, shall we."
"What do you want?" Jack growled.
"I want what was stolen from me. She took you and my baby away. Now, it's time I returned the favor." She turned to face Carly and a jolt of pleasure shot through her at seeing the other woman's face. She was terrified and that made Julia very, very happy.
The color drained from Jack's face. How was he supposed to be able to negotiate anything with this woman when what she was demanding was absolutely out of the question? Jack would never sacrifice his child to this woman. He'd gladly give his own life for Carly and the baby, however.
"Julia," he began. "If you want me - you got it. Just let me know when and where and you can let Carly go and I'll go with you," he said trying to reason with her.
"Ah, well you see - that's not what I asked for Jack. Carly also took my baby. Our baby. An eye for an eye," she said smiling maliciously at Carly.
Carly started back up slowly, trying to put as much distance between herself and Julia as she could. But Julia was having none of that. "I don't think so," she snarled. "You need to have a seat." She pushed Carly down to her knees on the soft, damp ground.
Carly's mind raced. She needed to get away or somehow get Jack's attention. She could see him through the tears in her eyes at the end of their driveway. It had been a long week since she'd last laid eyes on him. She thought of their last night together and his kiss goodbye at the suite. She shook her head to clear those thoughts. She needed to focus. She felt her watch again. Since her hands were concealed behind her back, she could possibly get it off without Julia noticing what she was up to. She fiddled with it and finally got the clasp loose and it dropped to the ground.
Jack motioned for the officers. He quietly relayed the information that a few were to go around back and the others were to follow him in.
Julia noticed that Jack was making a move toward the house and gave him a warning. "I don't want the other officers coming in Jack. Just you. If you want your baby to live, you'll do as I say."
Jack immediately called off the other officers. "Fine Julia, we'll play this your way. I'm coming in alone," he said as he hung up the phone. Jack gave new instructions. He was going to go in to exchange himself for Carly. Once Carly was clear, the other officers had their orders to do whatever it might take to bring Julia down. A few of them voiced their hesitancy at such an extreme measure and worried about Jack's safety, but that was the least of his concern. Jack reiterated by any force necessary - whatever the cost.
Up on the hill, Julia and Carly watched as Jack slowly approached the house. They couldn't see the front door, however. Julia knew her timing had to be perfect. Carly watched as Jack disappeared around the corner and tried twisting to see him, but with no luck. Julia closed her eyes and counted.
Jack, with his gun drawn, slowly entered his house. The living room was clear upon first sight. He glanced around and listened for any movement coming from the kitchen or from one of the rooms upstairs. Dead silence was all that greeted him. He noticed Carly's jacket on the sofa. He slowly walked over to get a better look. It was torn and he could see what looked like blood on one of the sleeves. Anger and fear twisted his stomach in knots. He picked up the jacket and was surprised by what was underneath. A crude bomb was sitting there on the sofa.
Carly knelt there on the ground straining to figure out what was going on. He knees were numb and her hands were tingling with the loss of circulation. Julia turned her attention on her once again. She pulled from another pocket a strange hand held device that looked like some sort of remote control, along with what looked like a walkie-talkie.
"This is a detonator," she informed Carly as she indicated to the odd device. "That house has bombs set up all throughout it. This is a walkie-talkie. The other one is in the house. Do you think you have time to warn Jack before I detonate all five bombs?"
Carly tried frantically to get loose from her bindings as Julia reached out and removed the gag from her mouth as she held the button on the walkie-talkie.
"Jack! Jack! Get out it's a trap!" Carly yelled as loud as she could. Julia pushed a button.
"Carly? Julia?" Jack called out walking away from the sofa and heading toward the stairs. He heard a muffled voice calling his name right before the explosion. He was near the front door as the first bomb went off upstairs. The force of the blast knocked him down but he was still conscious. "Carly! Nooooo," he yelled stumbling to his feet and trying to make it to the stairs as another explosion ripped through the back of the house, knocking him down once more. This time, the foundation took a direct hit and beams began to crack. Debris, drywall and other items came crashing down on top of him.
The other officers waiting outside were completely stunned by the first explosion and weren't sure at first what had happened. Smoke and fire was billowing from one of the windows upstairs as the second explosion rocked the back of the house. Officer Hopkins ran into the house looking for Jack, Carly and anyone else he could find. Officer Fitzpatrick followed. The other officer called dispatch immediately requesting fire aid and an ambulance.
Meanwhile, back on the hill, Julia was enjoying the show. She was admiring her handy work. The bombs had been placed just so, in order to produce the desired affect. She saw the 2 officers make a dash for the house, but lost track of them as the smoke from the fire was pouring out of the house. She waited a little bit longer and pressed the next button setting off the third.
Carly knelt there on the cold ground, screaming for Jack and looking on helplessly as she watched her house burn. Tears streaming down her eyes, she struggled to get to her feet. Julia noticed and they struggled. Julia tried to shove her back down but only ended up causing Carly to trip and fall backwards. Since her hands were still tied, she tried to twist, so that she didn't land on her back and break her arms. She hoped to land on her side, but the ground was damp and slick and Carly fell forward with most of her momentum causing her to land on her stomach. She cried out in pain as she rolled over and off the baby. Julia detonated the fourth bomb.
Hopkins and Fitzpatrick reached an unconscious Jack just as the fourth explosion rocked the house. They pulled Jack out of the way just as one of the major support beams broke and nearly fell on him. The smoke was thick and it was making it hard to see and breathe. They carried Jack from the house as the last bomb exploded. The concussion from the blast knocked all three of them to the ground.
Carly lay on the ground in pain. Her stomach was cramping and she was pretty sure her water had broken from the impact of the fall. But that wasn't what hurt the most. Her heart was breaking. Jack had been in the house. The house that was once two stories was now reduced to barely one and the smoke and fire lent one to believe that no one could have survived.
Julia stood staring at the results of her destruction. The house that she had once called home with Jack was in ruins… just the way her life was after Carly had destroyed everything. Revenge was sweet!