Call Me Sarah
Chapter Thirteen
They stood on the front porch of the Wesley home. "We need to proceed with caution." Marlena told her companions. She looked at Brady and Belle. "I know that Chloe is very important to you, but just stay back and let Dr. Johnson and I do the talking. I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail and we can achieve our goal through communication." She looked at her husband soberly. "You're here in case we don't. Does everyone understand their role?"
Brady nodded wordlessly. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Marlena stood the best chance of getting through to Chloe. He was still too emotionally overwhelmed by what he had just learned about her past. He didn't know if he could handle another intense exchange with her.
He looked over at Dr. Johnson to find her loading a gun. "What the hell are you doing? You're not going to SHOOT her?!" he cried.
"Of course not." She replied easily. "These are only tranquilizer darts. I will only use them as a last resort if she becomes violent." {Or,} she thought to herself with a slight smile, {if she begins to talk too much.}
Marlena raised her hand to the doorbell. Suddenly a loud boom erupted from the house, rattling doors and windows.
"That was a gun blast!" John shouted over the ringing in his ears. He kicked open the door and swiftly entered the house, alert for any possible attack. "It came from upstairs!" he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The others quickly followed.
They paused in the upstairs hallway, afraid that they were too late, afraid of what they might find. John heard noises behind one of the closed doors and motioned to Chloe's bedroom. He moved to the door and frowned. On the other side of the door was a violently unstable girl who was obviously armed. {How do I defend against a gun?}
"Here." Dr. Johnson whispered as she slapped a gun into his hand.
He noticed that she held onto her tranquilizer gun. "This isn't.?"
"No. It's the real thing."
John nodded soberly. This had gotten very serious. It looked that in order to save Chloe, he may have to shoot her. He inhaled deeply and motioned to the others to get back. He readied himself and took aim and then kicked the door open. He was shocked, but relieved by what he saw.
Sarah stood, tense arms outstretched with a smoking gun in her hands. Her gun was trained firmly on Craig who stood on the opposite side of the room. He had rolled off the bed as she was firing, so instead of killing him instantly, the bullet only pierced his shoulder. He clutched his shoulder with his free hand, trying in vain to stop the profuse bleeding.
John immediately brought his gun to bear on Sarah, his stomach twisting with bile at the action.
But Sarah barely seemed to register the weapon that was now pointed at her. Her eyes swept over the newcomers with a casual disinterest. "I see Boy Scout brought the cavalry with him." Her eyes flickered over John's face. She frowned slightly. There was something about him that seemed very familiar to her.
"Drop the gun, Sarah." John ordered in a slow, low voice.
That voice, she had known it once upon a time.
"Nah, I don't think so." She brought her attention back to Craig and smiled evilly. "I'm not yet finished with it."
"Yes you are. Yours is not the only gun in the room." John reminded her of the weapon he had trained on her.
She studied him briefly. "Pull the trigger. I'm pretty certain I can shoot him dead before your bullet even hits me. Wanna test my theory?" she challenged.
"You'll be dead, too."
"And I care?" she shot back, almost daring him with her eyes to pull the trigger.
John sighed inwardly. {Damn.} She had called his bluff. He wasn't about to shoot her, not if there was a chance that Craig could be shot too. He would have to shoot to kill, and he just couldn't do that. Their only shot now was to stall her, keep her talking. He motioned to Marlena with his eyes. Maybe she would succeed where he had failed.
She stepped forward cautiously. "Sarah, I know you've been hurt a great deal by men in the past, but this isn't the answer."
"Not the answer?! What is the answer? Lock them up for a few years, so they can get out and rape another little girl? Where's the justice in that? He's got to pay!" she screamed. She turned her gaze back to Craig's petrified form. She repeated softly, "You're going to pay."
It was then that Brady noticed the slight trembling of Sarah's gun. He saw the subtle play of emotions on her tense face. Could it be that Chloe was somehow resisting Sarah? {Come on, Chloe,} he urged silently, {fight it.} {It's now or never,} he realized. {I've got to somehow reach her.}
He took a small step forward. He spoke calmly, the nervous tension he felt absent from his rich voice. "Sarah. Listen to me. You do not want to do this, okay?" He risked a glance at Craig who had begun to shake from the shock of his injury. All color had fled from his face leaving him a sickly gray. Brady saw the rivulets of blood that continued to flow from Craig's shoulder despite his best efforts to contain it. {He doesn't have long.} He realized with a cold finality. {We've got to end this, now.}
He turned his attention back to Sarah. "Sarah, look at me." He commanded softly.
But she kept her unwavering gaze on Craig. Brady was encouraged though by the flicker of emotion in her cold blue eyes.
"Look at me."
Sarah slowly turned her head, feeling as if she were being magnetically pulled in his direction. She looked in his direction, but avoided meeting his piercing gaze. What was this hold he seemed to have over her?
"Look in my eyes, Sarah."
Finally, her resistance broken, she obeyed and looked into his eyes. Despite herself she began to study his deep blues. Concern and fear reflected back at her. As did sincerity. As she stared into his warm, honest eyes she felt her guard drop. She shook her head angrily - trying to shake off the effects of those eyes. She tightened her grip on the gun but was still unable to tear her eyes away from his.
"Ya got something to say?" she barked angrily.
Brady inhaled deeply. He had her attention. "Chloe and I have a very.interesting relationship. It's not a relationship actually.certainly not by conventional standards. In fact, you probably couldn't even call us friends. We fight. All the time. We can't even stand to be in the same room together."
He broke off then. A small smile crept across his face as he remembered their battles. God, he couldn't wait to have his old Chloe back again.
"Yet," he continued, "Even in our heated exchanges, the one thing we always were was honest. We can always count on the other to be brutally, cruelly honest."
John watched his son with pride. {That's it, son. Keep her distracted.just a little bit more.} He slowly inched closer to Sarah, his eyes ever on the deadly gun in her firm grasp.
But Sarah sensed the movement to her side and tilted her head slightly in warning as she readjusted her aim. "Your point?" she asked Brady.
"My point is that despite the many.horrible things I've ever said to Chloe, I've never lied to her. And I'm not going to start now. I know you think Craig has.hurt Chloe, but Sarah, nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes I think he's the only person Chloe even likes in this town."
"A while back, I spent a lot of time in the hospital where Craig works. Anyway, the one thing that I could count on to happen - almost on a daily basis - was for Chloe to get into a huge fight with her mother, Nancy. (chuckled) It was always over the same thing. 'Oh boo hoo, you abandoned me - Oh boo hoo, you won't tell me about my father.'"
"You heard that?" Craig asked through his weak haze.
"Well, your office was nearby and I'm sure you've noticed that Chloe has quite a set of lungs on her. Her voice carries quite a distance."
Craig smiled dazedly. "Yeah, she certainly does."
Sarah noticed the tender expression on Craig's face and frowned slightly. Was it possible she was wrong? Her gun dropped a little.
"Is there an end to this story somewhere?" she asked.
"Yeah. You see, no matter how upset Chloe got, with her mother, with life in general - Craig has always managed to calm her down and cheer her up. She genuinely likes Craig. Listen, if I thought for one moment that Craig had done anything to hurt her, I'd pull the trigger myself. But he hasn't. You said it yourself, you don't have her memories, you don't know what has been going on in her life. Isn't possible that you're wrong about this?"
"I don't know." She bit out finally. "I'm tired."
"I know you're tired, and I know you're just protecting Chloe, but she doesn't need protecting. She's happy here. I mean look at us, we're all here because we care about her. Chloe has friends now, and a family. She didn't have that before. She's happy. You don't have to protect her. Not anymore."
Sarah stared at Brady as tense seconds passed. Beads of sweat dripped down John's forehead while Craig fought to simply remain conscious.
But of all the anxious people gathered in the small room, none was more nervous than Celeste. She stood ready to take Sarah out, if at any moment she were to begin saying the wrong things. She smiled darkly. So far it seemed as if Fortune was with her. Sarah had not remembered or said anything suspicious. And now it seemed as if the standoff was nearing an end.
Sarah sighed deeply and nodded. "Okay." She lowered her gun and John moved to take it from her hands. An electric thrill raced up her arm at his innocent touch. She closed her eyes and swayed. She felt as if something deep inside, long ago buried, was now trying to awake. She could almost hear something click inside her brain.
She looked up at the tall man before her with new eyes. He had seemed so familiar before and now she knew why.
"John?" she questioned. Her heartbeat quickened with a thousand rushing emotions. "John, it's you." She whispered and reached up to caress his face. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Paris."
She never finished her sentence, but instead collapsed to the ground. The stunned occupants of the room could see a small dart sticking out of her neck.
"What? Why did you.?" Brady questioned as he kneeled beside Chloe.
"I apologize if I startled you, but I felt it was the wisest and safest course of action. Do not worry, she is merely sleeping. Perhaps we should focus our concern on him?" she questioned while pointing at Craig.
Celeste smiled as she dialed his number. She stared at Chloe's prone form with satisfaction. As soon as they had reached the hospital, she had shut Chloe and herself off in a private room, requesting that no one enter.
"Hello, Stefano. Sarah is in custody. I am taking care of the matter as we speak." She clicked off the cell phone. She approached Chloe's body, with a needle in hand.
"I am sorry, Sarah dahling. But we cannot have you revealing what is inside that head of yours."
Chapter Thirteen
They stood on the front porch of the Wesley home. "We need to proceed with caution." Marlena told her companions. She looked at Brady and Belle. "I know that Chloe is very important to you, but just stay back and let Dr. Johnson and I do the talking. I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail and we can achieve our goal through communication." She looked at her husband soberly. "You're here in case we don't. Does everyone understand their role?"
Brady nodded wordlessly. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Marlena stood the best chance of getting through to Chloe. He was still too emotionally overwhelmed by what he had just learned about her past. He didn't know if he could handle another intense exchange with her.
He looked over at Dr. Johnson to find her loading a gun. "What the hell are you doing? You're not going to SHOOT her?!" he cried.
"Of course not." She replied easily. "These are only tranquilizer darts. I will only use them as a last resort if she becomes violent." {Or,} she thought to herself with a slight smile, {if she begins to talk too much.}
Marlena raised her hand to the doorbell. Suddenly a loud boom erupted from the house, rattling doors and windows.
"That was a gun blast!" John shouted over the ringing in his ears. He kicked open the door and swiftly entered the house, alert for any possible attack. "It came from upstairs!" he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The others quickly followed.
They paused in the upstairs hallway, afraid that they were too late, afraid of what they might find. John heard noises behind one of the closed doors and motioned to Chloe's bedroom. He moved to the door and frowned. On the other side of the door was a violently unstable girl who was obviously armed. {How do I defend against a gun?}
"Here." Dr. Johnson whispered as she slapped a gun into his hand.
He noticed that she held onto her tranquilizer gun. "This isn't.?"
"No. It's the real thing."
John nodded soberly. This had gotten very serious. It looked that in order to save Chloe, he may have to shoot her. He inhaled deeply and motioned to the others to get back. He readied himself and took aim and then kicked the door open. He was shocked, but relieved by what he saw.
Sarah stood, tense arms outstretched with a smoking gun in her hands. Her gun was trained firmly on Craig who stood on the opposite side of the room. He had rolled off the bed as she was firing, so instead of killing him instantly, the bullet only pierced his shoulder. He clutched his shoulder with his free hand, trying in vain to stop the profuse bleeding.
John immediately brought his gun to bear on Sarah, his stomach twisting with bile at the action.
But Sarah barely seemed to register the weapon that was now pointed at her. Her eyes swept over the newcomers with a casual disinterest. "I see Boy Scout brought the cavalry with him." Her eyes flickered over John's face. She frowned slightly. There was something about him that seemed very familiar to her.
"Drop the gun, Sarah." John ordered in a slow, low voice.
That voice, she had known it once upon a time.
"Nah, I don't think so." She brought her attention back to Craig and smiled evilly. "I'm not yet finished with it."
"Yes you are. Yours is not the only gun in the room." John reminded her of the weapon he had trained on her.
She studied him briefly. "Pull the trigger. I'm pretty certain I can shoot him dead before your bullet even hits me. Wanna test my theory?" she challenged.
"You'll be dead, too."
"And I care?" she shot back, almost daring him with her eyes to pull the trigger.
John sighed inwardly. {Damn.} She had called his bluff. He wasn't about to shoot her, not if there was a chance that Craig could be shot too. He would have to shoot to kill, and he just couldn't do that. Their only shot now was to stall her, keep her talking. He motioned to Marlena with his eyes. Maybe she would succeed where he had failed.
She stepped forward cautiously. "Sarah, I know you've been hurt a great deal by men in the past, but this isn't the answer."
"Not the answer?! What is the answer? Lock them up for a few years, so they can get out and rape another little girl? Where's the justice in that? He's got to pay!" she screamed. She turned her gaze back to Craig's petrified form. She repeated softly, "You're going to pay."
It was then that Brady noticed the slight trembling of Sarah's gun. He saw the subtle play of emotions on her tense face. Could it be that Chloe was somehow resisting Sarah? {Come on, Chloe,} he urged silently, {fight it.} {It's now or never,} he realized. {I've got to somehow reach her.}
He took a small step forward. He spoke calmly, the nervous tension he felt absent from his rich voice. "Sarah. Listen to me. You do not want to do this, okay?" He risked a glance at Craig who had begun to shake from the shock of his injury. All color had fled from his face leaving him a sickly gray. Brady saw the rivulets of blood that continued to flow from Craig's shoulder despite his best efforts to contain it. {He doesn't have long.} He realized with a cold finality. {We've got to end this, now.}
He turned his attention back to Sarah. "Sarah, look at me." He commanded softly.
But she kept her unwavering gaze on Craig. Brady was encouraged though by the flicker of emotion in her cold blue eyes.
"Look at me."
Sarah slowly turned her head, feeling as if she were being magnetically pulled in his direction. She looked in his direction, but avoided meeting his piercing gaze. What was this hold he seemed to have over her?
"Look in my eyes, Sarah."
Finally, her resistance broken, she obeyed and looked into his eyes. Despite herself she began to study his deep blues. Concern and fear reflected back at her. As did sincerity. As she stared into his warm, honest eyes she felt her guard drop. She shook her head angrily - trying to shake off the effects of those eyes. She tightened her grip on the gun but was still unable to tear her eyes away from his.
"Ya got something to say?" she barked angrily.
Brady inhaled deeply. He had her attention. "Chloe and I have a very.interesting relationship. It's not a relationship actually.certainly not by conventional standards. In fact, you probably couldn't even call us friends. We fight. All the time. We can't even stand to be in the same room together."
He broke off then. A small smile crept across his face as he remembered their battles. God, he couldn't wait to have his old Chloe back again.
"Yet," he continued, "Even in our heated exchanges, the one thing we always were was honest. We can always count on the other to be brutally, cruelly honest."
John watched his son with pride. {That's it, son. Keep her distracted.just a little bit more.} He slowly inched closer to Sarah, his eyes ever on the deadly gun in her firm grasp.
But Sarah sensed the movement to her side and tilted her head slightly in warning as she readjusted her aim. "Your point?" she asked Brady.
"My point is that despite the many.horrible things I've ever said to Chloe, I've never lied to her. And I'm not going to start now. I know you think Craig has.hurt Chloe, but Sarah, nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes I think he's the only person Chloe even likes in this town."
"A while back, I spent a lot of time in the hospital where Craig works. Anyway, the one thing that I could count on to happen - almost on a daily basis - was for Chloe to get into a huge fight with her mother, Nancy. (chuckled) It was always over the same thing. 'Oh boo hoo, you abandoned me - Oh boo hoo, you won't tell me about my father.'"
"You heard that?" Craig asked through his weak haze.
"Well, your office was nearby and I'm sure you've noticed that Chloe has quite a set of lungs on her. Her voice carries quite a distance."
Craig smiled dazedly. "Yeah, she certainly does."
Sarah noticed the tender expression on Craig's face and frowned slightly. Was it possible she was wrong? Her gun dropped a little.
"Is there an end to this story somewhere?" she asked.
"Yeah. You see, no matter how upset Chloe got, with her mother, with life in general - Craig has always managed to calm her down and cheer her up. She genuinely likes Craig. Listen, if I thought for one moment that Craig had done anything to hurt her, I'd pull the trigger myself. But he hasn't. You said it yourself, you don't have her memories, you don't know what has been going on in her life. Isn't possible that you're wrong about this?"
"I don't know." She bit out finally. "I'm tired."
"I know you're tired, and I know you're just protecting Chloe, but she doesn't need protecting. She's happy here. I mean look at us, we're all here because we care about her. Chloe has friends now, and a family. She didn't have that before. She's happy. You don't have to protect her. Not anymore."
Sarah stared at Brady as tense seconds passed. Beads of sweat dripped down John's forehead while Craig fought to simply remain conscious.
But of all the anxious people gathered in the small room, none was more nervous than Celeste. She stood ready to take Sarah out, if at any moment she were to begin saying the wrong things. She smiled darkly. So far it seemed as if Fortune was with her. Sarah had not remembered or said anything suspicious. And now it seemed as if the standoff was nearing an end.
Sarah sighed deeply and nodded. "Okay." She lowered her gun and John moved to take it from her hands. An electric thrill raced up her arm at his innocent touch. She closed her eyes and swayed. She felt as if something deep inside, long ago buried, was now trying to awake. She could almost hear something click inside her brain.
She looked up at the tall man before her with new eyes. He had seemed so familiar before and now she knew why.
"John?" she questioned. Her heartbeat quickened with a thousand rushing emotions. "John, it's you." She whispered and reached up to caress his face. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Paris."
She never finished her sentence, but instead collapsed to the ground. The stunned occupants of the room could see a small dart sticking out of her neck.
"What? Why did you.?" Brady questioned as he kneeled beside Chloe.
"I apologize if I startled you, but I felt it was the wisest and safest course of action. Do not worry, she is merely sleeping. Perhaps we should focus our concern on him?" she questioned while pointing at Craig.
Celeste smiled as she dialed his number. She stared at Chloe's prone form with satisfaction. As soon as they had reached the hospital, she had shut Chloe and herself off in a private room, requesting that no one enter.
"Hello, Stefano. Sarah is in custody. I am taking care of the matter as we speak." She clicked off the cell phone. She approached Chloe's body, with a needle in hand.
"I am sorry, Sarah dahling. But we cannot have you revealing what is inside that head of yours."