The Heart of a Man:15
"What happened?" Paul demanded, watching as the levels on Blake's indicator screen dropped.
Blake frantically adjusted a few switches, then looked over his shoulder toward Paul. "Sorry. We lost all the signals."
Paul sighed. "The last turn he made was to the right. He was supposed to drive into an army troop carrier. Let's find that truck."
"Already there." Kermit spoke from the driver's seat.
Paul nodded, then turned toward Caine. "Can you sense anything? Is he okay?"
"Resigned. Waiting."
"I guess that's to be expected," Paul murmured and made his way toward the front of the van. Resigned and waiting, he thought, was a damn sight better than wounded or dying. But it also meant that Peter had most probably been captured. He hoped that he was wrong.
"Got anything yet?" he asked Kermit.
"Too damn much," Kermit responded, bringing the van to a halt. A covered troop carrier crossed in front of them. Another was parked further along the road. Yet another was pulling out of an alley up ahead. As if by design, there were troop carriers everywhere.
"Oh hell," Paul murmured, rubbing a hand across his face. "They got him." Then turning, he looked toward Caine. "You can track him?"
Caine nodded once. "I can."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
It was a long time before Peter felt the truck come to a bumpy halt. There was a soft clunk, and he saw the gate at the back of the truck lowering. The car phone rang.
"Caine."
"Back out of the truck. Slowly."
Peter did as he was told and found himself surrounded by a dozen black-clad men all pointing automatic weapons in his direction. Outside of the loose circle of men stood another man, a man that Peter immediately pegged as Kensington, who was dressed similarly and holding a cellular phone to his ear.
"Get out of the car."
"I want to see the girl," Peter demanded.
"That's not the way it works. You get out of the car, hand over the vases and then we can talk about turning over the girl."
"Nah," Peter responded. "That doesn't sound like a good deal to me. I give you the vases, you give me the girl. We drive out of here."
Kensington turned to one of the other men. "Go get the girl. Kill her and bring her body."
"Okay, Okay." Peter raised his hands and quickly opened the car door and stepped out. "No need to do anything rash."
"I knew you would cooperate." Kensington put away his cell phone and approached. Peter tensed as Kensington nodded shortly toward one of the nearer gunmen. He realized with dread that it was bloody nose from earlier in the day.
"I wouldn't struggle," Kensington suggested. "Remember the girl."
Peter looked back toward the vengeful expression in bloody nose's eyes and knew this wasn't going to be good. The instinct to fight was strong, but he had no doubt that Kensington would kill Jenine for less. He sure hoped Paul and the calvary were someplace nearby.
"You know we really don't have to do this," he told bloody nose. "No hard feelings and all that? In the spirit of good sportsmanship? I kicked your butt, you accept it gracefully?"
Bloody nose merely sneered before drawing back and slamming his fist into Peter's gut. Peter doubled over, trying to catch his breath. But there was no time as a rifle butt to his lower back ended that thought, causing his eyes to water and sending him to his hands and knees. The vicious kick to his ribs further side-tracked his ability to breathe, and sent him sprawling against the hard cement floor.
He saw through watering eyes as bloody nose grabbed him by his shoulders and cracked his head hard against the floor.
Vaguely, he heard Kensington call for a halt to his fun. Then he saw the man's booted feet move into his line of blurring vision. Strong arms pulled him to a standing position.
"Now that we understand one another," Kensington said, "and since I'm quite sure you don't want your little girlfriend to have any further run-ins with my friend here," Kensington gestured toward bloody nose. "You'll do as I say without question. Understood?"
Looking up unsteadily at the imposing figure, Peter had to acknowledge a sliver of fear. The man had the coldest, deadest eyes he had ever seen in his life. It chilled him to his bones. He didn't doubt for a second that the man was capable of having Jenine beaten. He bit back the smart comment that had come to his lips and nodded mutely.
"Good." Kensington smiled a satisfied smile. "You have what I asked for?"
"In the car," Peter managed.
"Very good. Now you may join the girl while I examine the contents. I do not like to be disappointed."
Kensington gestured and Peter was quickly relieved of his weapon. Then his arms were yanked painfully behind his back and he was pushed toward a door on the far side of the large room. Another of Kensington's gunmen covered him with an Uzi as he was led out of the area.
Peter wondered somewhat desperately how long it would be before Kensington figured out that the disk in the case was a fake. He also wondered how much longer after that he and Jenine would be alive if he didn't find a way out of there soon.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
What is in the heart of a man?
With what pains does it come to know
That in the end, when all's said and done,
The heart must learn to let go?
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Peter was led out of the larger room and into a long dark corridor. Rough hands and prodding weapons urged him to keep moving along the narrow passageway. Outside of a heavy iron door, the Uzi-carrying guard turned to release the length of chain and the padlock that held the door securely shut. Seeing an opportunity, he kicked out at the man with the gun. Before the gun hit the floor, Peter's head was bashed into the wall with mind-numbing force. The world spun crazily as he was pushed into the room beyond the door. Landing hard against a wall, he slid slowly to the floor as the iron door clanged shut behind him.
"Peter! You're hurt!"
He heard Jenine's voice from a distance. Then he felt her hands touching his shoulder. He oriented on the sensations and struggled to focus his vision.
"Agreed," he responded, when he could almost make out her features. "You okay?"
Jenine nodded shortly. "Yeah. You?"
"Jury's still out."
"What about Jo?"
"She's fine," Peter assured her, as he tried to fight his way to his feet. Dizziness and nausea were seriously working against him. "She's with Crawford."
"Should you be moving?" Jenine interrupted his attempts.
"I've got to get us out of here."
"You've got to rest first, or else you're going to be useless. I don't want to have to try to drag you out."
"Drag? Me?" Peter chuckled at the thought and immediately regretted it. Deciding that Jenine was partially right, he settled back to the floor. Just for a few minutes. Just to clear his head. It should take at least that long for Kensington to figure out that Kermit had swapped the disks.
"You found the vases?" Jenine asked, once he'd settled against the wall. .
"Yep."
"How?"
"Long story."
"It wasn't just the vases they wanted was it?"
"Nope."
"What, then?"
"Really, really, long story." Peter shifted slightly in an attempt alleviate some of his discomfort..
"They're going to kill us."
"I think that's the plan."
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
"Hey, haven't you heard? I'm a trouble magnet."
"I do seem to remember that." Jenine almost smiled up at him.
Peter returned the smile. "Listen, um. . . about the past. I know you had your reasons for. . . things. I've. . . let go of that. For any slights I may have felt, I forgive you."
"Death's door confessions, Peter?" Jenine asked, moving slightly away.
"No." Peter steadily held her gaze, wanting to make sure that she understood. "Even if I didn't think our chance of being dead within the hour wasn't so high, I would still be telling you this."
Jenine wavered, and her brow puckered slightly in confusion before her expression cleared. "Are you going to grant me absolution? Like father like son? You taking on the priestly role?"
"I can't grant you absolution. Only you can. Only you can release your fears and accept some of the unconditional love that's being offered to you."
"No one loves unconditionally, Peter. They all want something."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "What does anyone want but to be loved in return? What else does your daughter want? Or Crawford? Or even me -- what else did I want?"
"No." Jenine shook her head. "It's not that easy. We have to protect ourselves. I admit that I thought the money would guarantee acceptance, and that was wrong. And I was wrong about you. But if we survive this, I'm going to have to suffer the consequences."
"What consequences?"
"Fraud, for one thing," Jenine said. "I'm sure Terrance has already told Thomas everything."
"Uh, Terrance won't be telling anyone anything. He's dead. And besides, Crawford already knows."
"You told him?!"
"Nope. He already knew. Has from the beginning. In fact, he's lauding your efforts in saving his vases and blaming himself for not coming clean sooner."
Jenine gaped at him. "Oh my God, Peter. All of this. . . Steph, everything. It's been all for nothing. Because of me."
"Hey, hey, hey, wait." He held up a hand. "We really don't have time to go down that road right now. Trust me, I've mapped it a million times." Pushing his feet under himself, he tested his balance. The room didn't spin quite so much as before.
"Okay, now we need a plan." His eyes settled on the remains of an old chain supported shelf. "And this may be just what we need."
