Part 8
John lay panting on the bed in his cell. True to his word Lennox had become more… drastic when trying to get John to talk. He had dunked his head under water and when nearly drowning him hadn't worked his men had given John chocks to try and persuade him to talk. John held out, the wish to protect his family and friends keeping him strong. Lennox had to stop himself before he killed John altogether. John had been given a break for now. Sadly… Lennox had taken his watch and had put it on the table in the room where John had been tortured. John had to get it back. He needed it to warn his family when they came for him. So with trembling arms and legs he sat up and found the nail he'd hidden under his bed. He easily picked the locks on his wrists and ankles, sending a mental thank you to Parker for teaching it to him. He got up and had to steady himself on the wall or else he would fall over. He slowly made his way to the door and listened. He heard no one on the other side and sighed in relief. His right knee was killing him, Lennox and his men had dislocated it in an attempt to make him talk and then put it back to see if that would help. It had not. John started fiddling with the lock, it was difficult to do with just one hand. His left one was useless since all fingers on it were broken and the bastards had not set the bones back. John worked through the pain. He mumbled a mantra the whole time:
"I love my family more than anything in this life." He kept repeating that over and over. He needed to keep them safe. He needed to make sure nothing bad ever happened to them. He heard a satisfactory click and nearly cried in relief. He tried the handle and carefully pushed the door open. No one was in site. He sighed again and snuck out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Luckily there was a way to lock the door from outside without the use of a key. So he locked the door and then headed down the hallway. He remembered seeing a crowbar a bit further down, he needed that because he needed a weapon. He stayed close to the walls and moved slowly, keeping both an eye and an ear out for guards. He soon found the crowbar he had been looking for and held onto it tightly. Now he needed to find the room where his watch was. He turned around and swore. One of the guards were smirking at him.
"What ya gonna do with that thing you bastard?" the man asked. John looked at the crowbar. Then at the man. The man laughed and tried to grab him. John smirked; the man had forgotten he was a martial artist. John used one of the moves he'd been taught and hit the man in the groin. The man bent over and John brought the crowbar down on his back. The man screamed in pain and fell forward, hitting the wall and knocking himself out. John dropped the crowbar. He looked around and found a huge piece of tarp. He covered the man with it and took his gun. He didn't life firearms but it was better than the crowbar. It was lighter too which made it easier for his shoulder. He was in so much pain and his vision was getting kind of fuzzy. He ignored it though, he had to get out of here. He needed to return to his family. So with his mind set on helping them he hurried down the hallways as fast as he could.
On Tracy Island the members of his family and his friends were getting ready. Brains had connected them to the backup satellites John had used to find the blueprints of the mansion John appeared to be trapped in. Penny knew the man who owned it very well. A rich businessman who had made a fortune in selling gear to rescue services.
"Why would this Arthur Lennox want to take us out?" Jeff asked.
"He is a very… greedy man", Penny replied. "He has never complained about what IR is doing he has however complained about you not sharing your tech with him. He doesn't care about human lives, all he wants is to get rich. The gear he sells to rescue services is very overprized. I can only imagine what he would do if he got his hands on IR tech."
"But if it is our ships he wants… why destroy Five?" Gordon asked.
"Maybe he doesn't want our gear", Virgil said. "What if… what if he wants to force us into doing business with him? His wish must be to get information on us out of John and then use it to gain fortune."
"Like… if we pay him he won't expose us?" Alan asked.
"Something like that."
"Well good luck getting something out of Johnny when he doesn't want to talk", Scott said. "Trying to get information out of an unwilling John has always been like forcing a brick wall to talk."
"Your brother always knew how to keep his mouth shut", Jeff chuckled. It felt nice to feel some resemblance of joy again. "I remember many years ago when three little boys had stolen cookies from their mother." Scott and Virgil blushed. "Your mother and I thought it would be easiest to get the truth from John. Cheeky little squirt just kept looking at us without saying a word. It was a bit unnerving."
"Wait so John never caved?" Alan asked and grinned. "You mean Virg and Scotty did?"
"Why yes. They sang like little canaries. John kept quiet to protect them. When we told him his older brothers had informed us of how the 'heist' had happened. He looked at us and said: 'If they had listened to my plan you would never have known.' I still don't know what his plan was." All eyes turned to Virgil and Scott. The oldest two blushed.
"Well", Scott said. "Um you remember we had a problem with rats?"
"Oh yes", Grandma said. "Big as kittens they were! Horrible creatures!"
"Well…" Virgil said. "There was a hole at the back of the cabinet where mom hid the cookies. John said we should make it look as if the rats had gotten in. We thought that was too much like a kids show so we ignored him."
"He was right", Jeff chuckled. "Now back to the matter at hand. We have no idea what manpower this Lennox has or exactly where he is keeping your brother. All we know is that it is somewhere within that mansion."
"If John could just give us a hint that would be great", Alan said and sighed. "How are we going to get there?"
"I am thinking TB1", Jeff said. "She is the fastest and would let us get away quickly."
"Us", Scott asked. "You coming with us dad?"
"This man took my son from me", Jeff growled. "He made me think my son was dead and caused harm to my family and myself. He hurt my family. He made my sons, my mother and my friends cry. No one gets away with upsetting my family. Nobody." He had a feral look in his eyes. "I am coming with you because I am going to face that man myself and I am going to destroy him." They all jumped when Virgil's watch started beeping again. Virgil snatched it from the table.
"Johnny is that you?" he asked.
"Yeah", they got as a reply. Jeff could hear in his son's voice that he was in pain. "You guys okay?"
"Us?!" Scott exclaimed. "What about you!? Are you okay John?"
"Have been better… now we don't have much time." John coughed a little. "When… when you get here… the man who is in charge. He claims he is doing this on someone else's orders."
"Who's?" Jeff growled darkly.
"Yours."
The room got deathly quiet.
"What", Jeff growled.
"He claims he is doing this on Mr. Tracy's orders…"
"Why that son of a-" Scott began.
"I know, I know", John cut him off. "I could not agree more. He is a whack job. He wants to monopolize rescuing people by driving IR out of the picture. That's why he destroyed Five."
"He wants us to stop rescuing people?" Alan asked outraged.
"Yes, so that he can earn money on it. I won't let him."
"Neither will we."
"Good… he'll only save those that can pay. That's not what we are about. We rescue everyone in need. Everyone deserves to be rescued."
"You are right", Jeff cut in. "What can you tell us of the place you are held at?"
"A huge mansion and I am kept in the basement. He has a couple of brutes working for him, but I am not sure the staff is on his side. Please save them too?"
"Of course. Are you-"
"Ah so that is how you communicate", another voice said somewhere behind John and the family froze. "Hand it over Mai."
"No chance", John said.
"It was not a question Mr. Bhalsich", the man growled and Alan and Gordon stared at each other. What did the man just say?
"And I said no", John spat. Then they heard a gunshot go off. "What the hell!?"
"Give me that watch or the next shot will go through your arm!"
"I. Said. No." John growled.
"What are you doing Bhalsich?"
"I will not give you my watch."
"Don't be hasty now. Give it here. I promise you won't be punished for this."
"No."
"Come now be reasonable!"
"I said no!" John shouted and then they heard nothing else. Virgil's shoulders fell. They all knew what happened. John had destroyed his watch. The sons turned to the father and Jeff looked ready to murder someone.
"We move out now", he said. "Penny, contact local authorities. This Mr. Lennox is about to have a visit."
John groaned as he fell to the floor. Lennox's men had punched him in his already broken ribs. Lennox was furiously staring at the pieces of the watch John had broken apart with a hammer. Lennox's shoulders were tense. He swore and kicked the table, then he turned to his men.
"We move out now", he said. "Bring only the necessary equipment and meet me at the jet."
"What about Bhalsich sir?" a man asked and John looked up.
"Bring him too", Lennox said. "I am not done with him yet." John groaned as two men gripped his arms and hauled him to his feet and started dragging him towards the door. "Wait." The men waited. "Make sure he won't try to escape again. Break his legs." John felt fear well up inside and one of the men smirked and gripped a mallet. John struggled in their hold but to no avail. Soon his screams rang out through the mansion again.
TBC *hides away again*