Chapter 9



"I have already told you, detectives, I was not there." Ian glanced at Sara, glad he had only agreed to do this if she was there with him. He returned his attention to the detectives. "I was in the hospital."

"How do we know you didn't leave?"

"My wife picked me up from there."

"You might have come back."

Ian had to work hard to control his temper. "I could not have left. Therefore, I would not have come back. I was heavily sedated."

"Then, how do you explain your blood at the crime scene? How did it get there?"

"That is something I do not know."

"And you don't have a twin brother."

"No, I don't. Gentlemen, if we are done, I would like to get back to my wife and daughter."

"You may go," the older man dismissed him.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Sara apologized once they were out of the interrogation room.

"It is not your fault, Sara. You did what was required of you."

"I just wish we could find something on this guy. Who he is. Why he did this." She sighed in frustration. "Anything."

He looked at the floor for a moment then back up at her. "Sara, I must talk to you."

"Well, talk."

He shook his head. "Not here, Sara. Somewhere else."

*******

"I'm not giving up." Danny said, his face set in stubbornness.

"You don't have a choice, Danny," Caitlyn argued with him. "They took you off the case."

"I don't care. I promised them I'd find him. And I will find him."

"I just don't want to see you punished for doing this on your own."

"I won't be if I find him. And anyway, they'll drop the case if they don't find him within the next thirty-six hours. They won't have a choice. They have other cases to worry about."

"And once they do that, you'll be free to investigate on your own?"

He shook his head. "I'm not waiting for that. We have to find him soon."

"You're going to get yourself in trouble," Caitlyn told him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her head against his chest.

"It'll be worth it."

*******

"Okay, what is it, Ian?" Sara asked once they were outside.

"My master neglected to tell you one important quality about your weapon."

"I don't understand, Ian. What does this," she asked, holding up the bracelet, "have anything to do with this?"

"Just hear me out, Sara. The Witchblade will not and cannot bring death to anyone who's wielded it. Will it maim? Yes. Will it disfigure? Absolutely. Will it cause great pain? With relish. But will these wounds bring death? The answer is no."

"I'm still confused, Ian. Do you mean Irons isn't really dead?"

"In a way, he is. In a way, he isn't."

"What do you mean?"

"In body, he is dead. In spirit, he is still alive. He can transfer to another body whenever he wishes."

"When you tried to have me killed?"

"Yes, Sara."

"So, you think he's behind this?"

"It is probable."

"Still doesn't explain how your blood was at the crime scene."

"It might," he said, lowering his head. "When I was young, he had some of my DNA used to make another."

"Another?"

"A clone."

"Well, where'd he kept him?"

"That I do not know. That information was always kept from me."

"And he would have the exact same DNA as you."

Ian nodded his head.

"Well, why didn't you tell them that?"

"Do you truly think they would believe that story, Sara. My missing, probably dead, boss had a clone of me made over twenty years ago, and while in the body of someone else brought him out to kidnap a baby."

Sara realized how ridiculous that sounded. Of course, anymore nothing made sense. "Do you know where he might have taken him?"

Ian shook his head. "Father had many properties. They could be anywhere."

"Well, we'd better start looking."

*******

"Ian, are you sure you don't know of any more properties he owned?"

Ian shook his head. "I am sorry, Sara. If he had any others, he never told me. What is the Witchblade telling you?"

"Nothing," she growled. "The damn thing's been silent for the last month. Since he first went missing."

"Sara, listen to the Witchblade. It may be trying to tell you something, and you just are not listening."

She tried concentrating, but the stone remained dormant. Sara sighed in frustration. "Why isn't it working, Ian? It's not telling me anything."

"It will tell you what you need to know, Sara. Just let it."

They were walking back to the car when she noticed the stone swirling. "It's about time," she whispered to herself as the vision came.

A large house sitting in the middle of a field of green. A wrought-iron gate surrounds the house, and the ocean stretches out beyond a cliff behind the mansion. Sara shook her head. "Does he have any places in Ireland or Scotland?"

"I do not know."

"Well, let's go find out."

A half hour later they left the precinct. "I will go," Ian said.

"Not alone, you won't."

"Sara-"

"Do not, 'Sara', me, Ian. I will be going too. We'll leave tomorrow morning.

When they arrived back at the mansion, Gabriel was standing in the middle of the hallway staring at a door. "That's the gun room," Ian whispered to Sara. They hurried down the hallway to find out what was happening.

"Renee, will you please come out of there?" He was pleading with his wife from the outside of the closed room. Silence answered his plea. "Please, Renee. They are going to find him."

Desperation filled her voice when she finally answered. "No, they won't. It's been a month, and they haven't. The case was dropped. He's gone."

"Danny's still looking for him. Don't give up. He will find our son."

"You don't know that!" Renee screamed.

"Gabe," Sara said, coming up softly behind her friend.

He turned. "She locked herself in there this morning. Hasn't come out yet. It's been five hours. I'm really getting scared, Sara."

"Let me try." She stepped up to the door and spoke gently. "Renee, you need to come out. We think we might know where Aidan is. We will find him."

"It's too late." They could all hear her break into sobs.

"No, it's not, Renee. We are going to find him. Please come o-"

Before she could finish the sentence, the three of them heard a wailing cry followed by a gunshot. Another one quickly followed it. Gabriel fell to his knees as sobs shook his body, and he cried her name. They heard another gunshot as Ian rammed his shoulder against the door, trying to break it down.

The door swung open, and he saw Renee sitting in the middle of the floor holding the gun. Her body shook. Gabriel saw she was alive and ran to her. He wrapped his arms around her still trembling body and held her close, rocking back and forth. "Shhh," he whispered soothingly, stroking her hair. "They'll find him. They'll find our son."

*******

"We should return within the week," Ian said the next morning.

"Hurry back, Ian," Darvi said, kissing his cheek.

"I will." He took Carina from her mother and kissed her forehead. "Be good, my Carina. I'll miss you."

"Just find him, Ian. And take care of yourself."

"I will."

"I'll see about getting that door fixed and the ceiling patched up while you're gone."

"How is she?"

Darvi shrugged. "Her and Gabe are still in bed." She shook her head. "If Carina was kidnapped, I don't think I would handle it as well as she has."

Ian ran his fingers through his wife's hair. "Nothing will ever happen to her or you. I promise you that."

Darvi kissed him again. "You'd better get going. Just hurry back," she repeated her earlier request."

"Good-bye, my love." He handed Carina back to her mother and started for the door. The three-month-old waved at him.