Wow, I was not expecting so many reactions regarding chapter 21

Thank you all so much for the feedback, kind words and speculations on things regarding the story.

I honestly hope this next chapter won't disappoint.

Slight warning for those who cannot handle choking situations (near the end of this chapter).

Enjoy!

Dreamland

Even though it was broad daylight, the neon sign spelling the name of the club was lit inside a bright pink display. The yellow and orange letters made it seem as if the place was not a club at all, but some kind of child attraction. Throttle twitched his nose looking up at the sign, a feeling of resentment bubbling to the surface.

The location of the building wasn't any better, tucked far away at the back of a street amongst other obscure looking places. This definitely was the place. His fur tingled. He did not like this one bit.

"Any idea where Morden might keep Charley inside of this,- this,-" He couldn't even say it. Club, strip-club, place of disgrace.

Unfortunately Izzy shook her head. "It could be upstairs in the dressing room. It could be in his office, which is on the ground floor. But I honestly hope she isn't here at all."

The tanned mouse seconded that opinion. He'd told his bros they were to contact him the moment they find her. Throttle wasn't going to risk contacting them in case they were caught in the middle of something. But he couldn't wait either if she turned out to be inside the club instead.

"Is there any way to get inside without being seen?" He asked the woman sitting behind him.

Izzy didn't answer just yet, instead she climbed off the motorcycle and removed her helmet. "You want to go in unannounced and get Charley without alerting Morden?"

That sounded like the best plan to him, although he could already tell from the look Izzy was giving him she felt nothing for it. Throttle hated this. If it had been up to him and his bros, they would have simply rode inside through a window. The best offence was one packed with surprise. Give the enemy no time to adjust or understand what was happening.

"If you have a better plan, babe, I'm all ears." He crossed his arms and watched as Izzy's eyes roamed the outside area.

"There's a door up on the roof and the staircase behind it leads to the floor where the dressing rooms are. That might be the best place to start. If that turns out to be a dead end, the next best step for you to take is to go down the maintenance ladder to the stage area. You will be walking amongst the beams where the lights and soundboxes are for performances. I doubt Charley will be there, but it gives you the perfect view of the main area of the club."

Throttle licked his lips, surprised at how logical she made it all sound. But there was one part of this so called plan he didn't like and that was the fact she left herself out of the equation.

"And where will you be as I'm sneaking around in the shadows trying to find Charley?"

"Distracting Morden, of course." She replied calmly.

There it was, Throttle thought as much. Izzy was planning on playing bait, while he would search for their friend. He shook his head and got off the motorcycle to stand in front of her.

"It's too dangerous. You said it yourself that this man cannot be trusted and now you're expecting me to just let you waltz in there and talk to him?"

"You'd rather we searched for Charley together?" She frowned at him.

Yes, he actually would prefer that very much. If it were up to him, he'd throw her over his shoulder and carry her up to the roof himself. But he had to admit that a distraction was also a smart move. Especially considering Izzy was the one Morden wants to speak to in the first place.

Throttle growled loudly and kicked a random piece of junk lying next to him into the street. "Just don't piss him off, if I'm looking for Charley that means I have no way of keeping tabs on you."

Izzy nodded and let out a deep breath. "I'll be careful. I can take care of myself, Throttle. I always have." She assured him.

Goddess, he did not like this one bit. At least the stroll through Izzy's mind had given him more than he wanted to know about the place, which was a slight advantage. But to let her face this creep on her own, if something happened he could never forgive himself. The others wouldn't either.

"Time to go,-" Izzy said but Throttle cleared his throat. She turned back to him and threw him a puzzled look.

"It's, let's Rock and Ride,- actually."

"I think you mean Rock and climb." She retorted looking up at the roof.

Funny. Throttle sensed she wasn't calm at all, despite trying to come across as such. There were a lot of things that could go wrong and surely she realised it just as much as he did.

"Be careful, okay?" He told her once more.

Her smile was small and anything but comforting. She turned her back on him and for a second he thought about wrapping his tail around her waist and pull her against him. Like he had done the first time meeting her at the beach, saving her from a midnight swim into darkness.

Throttle stepped away the minute she rounded the corner and headed towards the side of the building to take the fire escape up towards the roof.

::::::...::::::

Dreamland wasn't that far from where he'd met up with Vinnie and Modo, but running there was going to be a waste of precious time and time was something he did not have. Luckily, Stoker had his ways when it came to coming up with last minute solutions.

Hopping on top of a bus might not have been the best one, but it got him towards his goal quicker than running would have. Plus the advantage of having the road laid out before him on a digital map was that he could move off and onto another bus if he so happened to be heading into the wrong direction.

Running would have taking him about fifteen minutes, his bike would have cut that distance significantly, but the bus got him there within five minutes. Which was just as well.

Once his visor indicated he was where he should be, he jumped off the moving vehicle. There was no need for him to check the map anymore to see if this was the correct place. The insanely huge pink framed display with the words Dreamland was indication enough to know he was in the right spot.

As he got closer, Stoker noticed Throttle and Charley's motorcycles parked next to the building. He didn't understand why the two bikes were there. He'd expected Izzy's car to be there, but there was no sign of it. Had she ridden on one of the bikes? How was that possible?

It was back in Charley's kitchen where she told him about it. The same day he connected his mind with hers. Throttle had been in an explosion and Izzy had examined him for damage. Stoker had offered her a ride back to her motel, but she'd declined.

At first Stoker had thought it was because of him being a Martian. But then she told him about how bikes frightened her, because of the accident she'd been in. That was also the first time she ever confided in him.

The older mouse gritted his teeth. He was convinced Throttle must have persuaded Izzy one way or another to come with him without taking her car. Did his bro have no respect for another person's trauma? It seemed Throttle had managed to get her on a motorcycle and Stoker felt upset that it had been the tanned mouse and not him to help Izzy with her fear.

He moved his tail in an agitated manner and placed his hand on Charley's bike. He closed his eyes and thought of the honey haired woman. Her soft golden tresses between his fingers, the pink line of her scar and the softness of her rose coloured and well-defined lips. Stoker inhaled deeply and felt her sweet scent enter his body.

She'd been here, on the back of the motorcycle. Stoker clenched his fist before reopening his eyes, seeing the sparkly golden trail trickling towards the front door of Dreamland.

Throttle had not gone with her of that he was certain, so where had his bro run off to? There was only one way for him to have gone towards. Stoker tilted his head back and glanced at the top of the building. Seeing as Throttle had gone that way, this mouse was going to take the other direction. Right through the front door.

But then a blue dot blinked on his visor, just as he was about to make his way inside. Stoker took a couple of steps back until he reached the corner, he clicked on the side of his helmet.

"Stoker, here."

"Stoke, it's Modo,- We've got her, teach!"

Immediately he knew what the mouse meant. Stoker had never heard such relief come from the grey mouse before. They got her. They'd found Charley. That was one thing they no longer had to worry about now.

"Is she alright?"

"Shaken up, things happened. She ain't hurt or anything, but,- we learned some stuff about Sam. It ain't good, Stoke."

Sam? Stoker did not like the sound of that. He pressed his lips together and glanced up at the large neon sign for a quick second. "I'm about to head enter the location where Throttle and Izzy are. You take Charley home, okay? She's seen enough for one day."

"Will do. We'll head your way as soon as we drop her off." Modo answered.

"I doubt that will be necessary, just take care of that girl of yours first, alright?" Stoker broke the connection before giving his bro a chance to reply to him.

It had been a slip off the tongue, but Stoker honestly didn't care. It didn't feel wrong to say, in fact it sounded like something which should be said more often. Now that Charley had been found, it would be safe for him to go all out on this Morden fellow. Because if there was one thing he was planning on fixing today, it was that nobody he cared for was going to be bothered by scum like that ever again.

A few minutes earlier

There was nobody to greet her. Nobody to tell her she was not allowed to come in as opening hours began at five in the afternoon. The hallway was completely deserted. Not even Ben the bouncer was here, if he even still worked there. Her skin tingled as the red lightbulbs guided her through the long corridor until she arrived at the main room.

Normally this part of the club would be lit in the same colour as the hallway, though with a bit more of an orange glow underneath it. Alongside the walls were fairy lights, tinted with every shade of the rainbow. But today the room seemed as common as any other room. No special lightning and only a faint sound of jazz music playing in the background.

All of the tables there were circular and surrounded by four or two chairs, or a bench if you were seated at a wall. In the centre of the room was the stage and on it three dance poles.

It felt weird walking here on her own with nobody around. Almost as if Morden had shut the place for the entire. What could that entail exactly?

Izzy slipped her hand inside her jacket for a quick second to double check if her weapon was still there. Throttle didn't have a clue she'd taken it out of her car when he went back inside to get the helmets. If he did, he'd shown no sign of it.

On one hand she was hoping she wouldn't have to use it, but she wasn't going to stand there and be defenceless. Not again.

The music suddenly stopped and the room turned dark. Immediately Izzy's heart practically jumped out of her chest as her breath hitched in her throat. A light turned on at the upstage part of the stage, giving spotlight to a fit looking man in a black suit. No tie, and the top two buttons of his white shirt were undone.

A tanned complexion, almond shaped eyes and bright white teeth shining within a broad smile. He looked exactly the same as he'd done the last time she'd seen him. Except for his hair, which had grown and instead of being slicked back, it slightly hung in his eyes.

"Isabel Davidson." Charles Morden exclaimed loudly as he spread his arms.

Izzy didn't reply. It was quite a disadvantage from where she was currently standing. Looking up at the man instead of directly in front of him. Without contemplating too much, she climbed up onto the stage and stayed there between the dance poles.

The man cocked his head and placed his hands into his pockets. "Or is using the name Autumn more accurate? I mean from here I can hardly tell the difference."

A chill ran down her spine and it was suddenly very hard to breathe. Flashbacks of how she'd gotten here for the first time flew threw her mind.

After Sam's death, a week after the funeral, Morden had appeared at her door. She'd never seen this man before.

He asked for Samuel Davidson, but of course he was no longer alive and thus she told him. Morden offered her his condolences and asked who she was.

Soon everything changed and the secrets from Sam's past were revealed. Gambling debts. Unpaid bills from clubs and what not.

A life she had never known anything about.

Sam owed Morden a large amount of money, but she didn't believe him at first. Morden gave her time to double check the receipts with a professional and told her to meet her at a place called Dreamland the moment she realized that he was telling her the truth.

A week later she was there. With money from Sam's life insurance and additional money she had saved up over the years. Although it still wasn't enough, it was something.

Morden had treated her kindly. Not blaming her for her dead husband's debt, but it was his money and he wanted to see the debt paid. If she couldn't solve it, he was going to go to Sam's other closest of kin.

But Izzy would not let him contact Charley or Sam's family. His parents were already hurting so much due to losing their only son and Charley had enough problems of her own with the garage. Izzy couldn't do it. She didn't want to burden them further and she was already involved in the matter now. It felt wrong to pull them down with her.

So Morden offered her a job. Something which would pay more than the roadhouse bar she worked at. A place for her right there in Dreamland. Of course, she'd have to audition, but if she passed he was going to cut off a certain percentage of the remaining money.

It seemed like such a good idea. The insurance money and her savings had covered a great deal. Morden assured her that she'd only have to dance, never get completely naked in front of the audience. This was a club, not a brothel, he told her.

Nearly three months. That was all it had taken for her to fully pay off Sam's debt.

Morden was surprised as well as disappointed. But a promise was a promise and he let her go the minute the deal was done.

"Where is Charley?" Izzy asked him, ignoring his degrading comment.

"Damn, you have not changed one bit. Always straight to the point, no sidetracks or harmless fun." Morden hung his head and shook it.

The woman crossed hers arms over her chest. "I'm only here to talk, exactly like you asked. After that I'll be leaving with Charley."

She watched as Morden slowly made his way over and then stopping a couple of inches in front of her. "By all means, honey, we will talk. But how's about without that weapon you're hiding inside your jacket, mm?"

He extended his hand and motioned for her to give him her gun. She should have realized he'd seen her reach for the inside of her jacket earlier. With a clenched jaw she pulled her weapon and placed it in Morden's hand. His smirk was incredibly aggravating and she felt the need to kick him hard.

"Thanks, baby." He looked at the object for a moment before placing the cold steel of the barrel against her skin.

Tracing the line of her scar, Morden clicked his tongue and took a step back. Izzy forced herself to keep her eyes open, even though there was nothing more she wanted now than to close them and pretend that none of this was happening.

Hopefully Throttle had already found her sister-in-law and that she was unharmed. Izzy's bottom lip trembled slightly as she kept her gaze on Charles Morden.

"Why am I here, Morden?" She asked.

The man let out a deep sigh, glanced over his shoulder and motioned for something with his free hand. Two men appeared from the backstage area and positioned themselves in front of the velvet red curtain. Even with Morden alone she felt unnumbered, especially considering he had taken her gun from her. But now she really felt trapped.

What had Throttle told her? Don't anger the guy, I won't be able to keep my eye on you.

"Samuel Davidson."

"I beg your pardon?" Izzy blinked with arched eyebrows. But Morden ignored her and started to walk around the stage.

"You know, addiction is a silly thing, baby." He continued.

"It can happen to anyone if you know what their personal trigger is. Once you've fallen down into that hole, getting out is never really an option. Sure, you might be able to climb out, but the edge will always be right behind you and with the right push,- BANG!"

He clapped his hands and Izzy jumped. "You fall right back in."

What on Earth was he talking about?

"I don't understand why you're bringing my dead husband into this?" She said to him.

Morden scoffed. "Honestly, he brought himself into this. Thinking he could pull the wool over my eyes for a second time. He's already tried to do that once and ultimately you paid the price for that. Now he has done it again." Morden stopped his tread and turned on his heels to face her again.

"It is all about respect in this business, you know what I mean? Deals you make and you see them through. I am not a terrible fellow, you know this, baby. Have I not kept my word to you from the very moment we met?"

It sounded like a question, but she knew it wasn't. This was a man who never asked for validation. Just a trick, to make it seem as if he cared for your opinion. Pretend you were important, when in fact you were as disposable as a paper towel.

"To my recollection the last promise you made was to not contact me again. Now you have kidnapped my sister-in-law and all you talk about is Sam who has been dead for over a year. That does not sound like a man who keeps his word."

The upper corner of Morden's mouth twitched, he cocked his head and a weird expression fell over his face.

"Oh, I see now. You have no idea about him, have you? Not a single clue? I have to say, that is very disappointing. Although I admit it proves how weak the man was." He walked towards her with her own weapon pointed in her direction.

The man was talking in riddles. Why did these types of people always felt the need to paint an entire picture around the actual point of the story? But if he kept going like this, Throttle would have more time to locate Charley. Izzy took a step back. He was really starting to frighten her, more than he had ever done before. She didn't like the way he talked about Sam. As if he knew something she did not regarding her dead husband. Another secret. She was getting quite fed up with it all.

"Samuel Davidson stole something from me. Something important. Something worth a lot of money." Morden halted a couple of inches from her face.

This was news she'd never heard before. For those few months she was here, Morden had never once mentioned Sam stealing from him. If it was something of incredible value, why had he not confronted her about it seven months ago? Surely a problem like that could not wait months to get solved?

"A part of me was hoping you would know of it. But your face has always been an open book, I can already tell you have no clue what I'm talking about." He paused and rubbed his chin. "This does pose a problem."

"Are you trying to tell me that the only reason I am here is because you thought I knew about this thing and could give you its location? Why didn't you ask me this when I was here all those months ago?"

She did not like the smirk he was giving her. Whatever was going on, he was enjoying this way too much. He'd gone through an awful amount of trouble to get her here and now it turned out to have been pointless. But Izzy still felt anxious, sensing it was far from over. The fact he was standing this close, having her own gun in her face and the two lackeys behind them standing guard, told her he was either being overdramatic or planning something.

"Oh, I do hate to be the bearer of bad news. Sad new, really. But I guess you out of all people deserves to know the truth."

Her hands felt clammy and the spotlights shining on them added an extra amount of warmth she did not need right now. If only Throttle could somehow tell her if he'd found Charley, she'd feel a lot better. But still there was no way for her to get out of here. Something told her Morden was not planning on letting her just walk out of here before finishing whatever it was he was so eager to get off his chest.

"I can tell I'm annoying you, baby. So I'll keep it short." He began.

"I got a call from a,- buddy,- of mine. Give or take a month ago. He says there is this guy at his casino who reminds him of someone. A mutual friend, if you will. This guy is on a winning streak, but that's not really the point,- At first I thought he was making a joke, you know? The guy he thinks is there playing poker has been dead for some time now,-"

Whatever Morden said after that faded into the background. It was clear who he was talking about. But that was simply not possible. She was there when it happened. She saw him on the ground. She saw the explosion. How can anyone survive a blast like that? Everything was burnt so much there was nothing left to even identify the bodies.

"But then he shows me the surveillance camera,-"

"Please, stop,-" Izzy whispered under her breath taking more steps back from the man in front of her. "Please."

"Now, come on, Isabel. Don't be like this. You have every right to be upset, but are you really surprised?" Within two steps he stood in front of her once more and grabbed hold of her chin with his free hand.

"Your lousy excuse for a husband did not die in that accident, which scarred your smooth face. He fooled you, me and everybody else into thinking he was dead. And he would have gotten away with it, if he hadn't gone back into his addiction and was spotted by that buddy of mine."

Sam hadn't died. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Deep down she was hoping he was lying to her. Trying to get to her. Except he had no reason to lie. Morden was a powerful man, a despicable one, but he had been more honest with her than Sam had been.

Her eyes were burning and the moment she blinked, warm tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Ssshh, it's alright." He told her soothingly. "It's not your fault he hid himself from you for all those months. I mean, I gave the man a chance to redeem himself for fooling both of us and what does he do? He steals from me." A flash of anger crossed his face.

"But don't worry, I took care of it." He whispered.

Izzy stared at him, his hold on her face was beginning to hurt. There was only one thing the sentence 'taking care of it' meant in this type of place. Her bottom lip quivered but she had to know. "When?"

"I shot him three weeks ago."

Three weeks ago? Only three weeks ago?

Her breathing became rapid and a pounding sensation exploded in her head. Sam had been alive all that time. The time she worked for Morden, the time she'd gone back to England. She'd cried, grieved, stripped, let other men watch her and graze parts of her skin while all that time her husband had been alive.

The two pieces of muscle positioned at the back of the stage suddenly began to move. One of them walked towards them as the other jumped off the stage. The large henchman who approached them leaned forward to whisper something at Morden. Whatever he was telling them Izzy didn't catch nor was she interested in it.

All she could think of was what he'd just told her about Sam. How could he have done this to her and his family? Why had he kept him being alive a secret even from his own sister? Now she would never know the answer to those questions.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and check it out!" Morden yelled at the guy next to him, his eyes narrowed and he waited until the man had left the room before redirecting his attention.

"It seems we have a visitor." He exclaimed with a low growl.

Throttle,- Her mind immediately went to the Martian mouse. He was still in the building only now it seemed they'd discovered him. There was no chance for either of them to get out of there, unless either Morden would let them go or until their friends would arrive.

But for the time being, Morden continued his talk to her. "Now where was I? Ah, yes. The microfilm."

"The microfilm?" She asked.

Morden blinked as Izzy repeated his words. As if he'd just said something he actually had no intention to share with her in the first place and when he said, "Shit,-" She knew he had no intention of letting her go now.

Within a second the entire atmosphere changed. Before she managed to react, his hand was already moving down from her jaw towards her neck wrapping itself around her throat.

"If only you knew where it was, then you wouldn't suffer the same fate as Samuel." He said without empathy.

As the pressure around her neck got tighter and tighter, he now also pressed the end of the gun against the side of her head. If she wasn't going to die from his choke hold, a bullet surely would.

Her throat began to close up, and in a desperate action she wrapped her hands around Morden's arm to try and pull him away from her, but the man was incredibly strong. A soft hum entered her mind and her head felt weird, as if she'd just entered a long and deep tunnel going through a mountain. Each little breath she managed to suck inside felt like fire.

"You hu,- me,-"

"What's that, honey? I am hurting you?" Morden let out a cackle. "I just told you your husband faked his death and let you take the fall for his shitty behaviour. Now I am the one you're angry with?"

They were interrupted by a loud ruckus coming out of the hallway. A large silhouette suddenly flew into the room and crash landed on one of the many tables surrounding the stage. A yell followed from the hall, a sort of triumphant shout and for a second Izzy thought she recognized it.

The owner of the voice entered the room, dragging the other henchman behind him with his metal tail.

"Special delivery for Mr. Morden!" Stoker shouted aloud. He moved his tail and the last goon tumbled through the air before landing onto the table next his buddy.

Morden eased his hold on Izzy's neck and she immediately tried to suck in a deep breath. It was an odd pain, something she'd never felt before. Almost as if her lungs were full of water.

With three big strides, the hazel mouse jumped on the stage and watched the scene in front of him with anger in his eyes. "Get away from her,-" He hissed.

For a second Morden backed away pulling Izzy with him. "Friend of yours, honey?"

"I ain't asking again, pal." Stoker said through gritted teeth.

With one last tight grip around the woman's neck, Morden gave in and threw her down onto the ground. He then quickly raised his arm and aimed Izzy's gun at the creature in front of him.

"I don't know who you are or why you're here, but this is a private conversation between me and her."

"It ends here. You're going to drop that weapon and let me and the lady go. If not,-" A smirk appeared on the mouse's face as he pointed a finger towards the ceiling. "My buddy up there might put one through your head."

Immediately Morden looked up at the beams hanging above the stage. A shadow shaped exactly like the thing in front of him was slightly visible between the spotlights. It appeared the two mice had found each other and now he was the one being outnumbered.

Being driven into a corner was not something the man appreciated, but whatever he would decide seemed to end bad for him unless he'd cooperate. Still, he did not falter and kept his hand raised. "Call your buddy down, and we will talk about this."

Izzy shook her head at Stoker and his eyes shot in her direction. Though he appeared calm on the outside that was not how he truly felt. Fury raged through him, anger boiled in his core. This man had tried to kill his woman and that meant he was not going to let Morden get out alive.

He looked up and nodded at Throttle to come down. At the moment he averted his gaze, Morden took his shot.

Nobody had seen it coming, except for Izzy. She stumbled forward directly into the weapon's line of sight. A loud click sounded and Stoker lowered his eyes just in time to see her take a protective stand between him and Morden.

Nothing happened, except for the fact that his heart had stopped for a second.

Morden pulled the trigger again and the same click sounded.

The gun was empty.

Throttle landed between Izzy and Morden and with one big swoop kicked the weapon out of his hand, followed by a punch and Morden landed on the floor with a loud cry. "Nighty night, pal." He spat onto the floor.

It was over. Izzy was about to buckle through her knees but Stoker was at her side within two steps and pulled her in his arms.

"I've got you, gorgeous." He whispered pressing his face in her hair and took in a deep breath of relief. "I've got you."

I hope that was alright, was it okay?

Sam's second secret is out, but yes he is dead now. To let him live was a bit too much and seemed quite unlikely considering the type of guy Morden is. Of course it's not over, the thing Sam stole is going to become part of the story. But that will be revealed in the next chapter.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please let me know your thoughts.