Chapter 4



"What did we find out from the son?" Jack Malone asked his team. "A vague description," Samantha told him, showing him the composite drawing. "But it looks slightly familiar."

"A suspect from a previous case?"

Samantha stared at the picture deep in thought. "The case Danny was working on. Do we have all the people we questioned in the database?"

"The little boy and his twin sister who went missing?"

"Yeah. Samuel and Christina Penapo."

"We should."

Samantha scrolled through the list of suspects moments later. "Give me the sketch." She compared it to the face on the screen in front of her. After a moment, she said, "That's him."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"All right, let's go."

*******

Gabriel had no idea where to drive. Then, he remembered. Danny had told him about the case he was working on. Twin brother and sister kidnapped. Only two years old. They'd found the little girl's body a week later, but her brother was still missing. Danny wouldn't let the case drop. He had told Gabriel one day why.



"I was eight years old. I came home from a friend's one day to find my mom and dad in the living room, bawling their eyes out. My dad never cried. I remember the fear. I didn't want to ask what was wrong, but I still did. My brother had been taken. He'd been in his crib. My mom only left the room for a second, to check on my sister, Elena. When she got back, Enrique was gone. They found him a month later, but it was too late. They never found the man who took him. Gabe, I still see Enrique's casket being lowered into the ground every time we don't find a child in time."

Gabriel remembered Danny had been close to tears, but he was too stubborn to let them fall. He remembered Danny telling him something else. "I know this Vince Craig did it. I don't have enough evidence though. But it is him. I'm sure of it."

"Do you know where to find him?" Gabriel had asked.

"There's a building on the Hudson River near Lincoln Tunnel. That's where he most likely is."



Now Gabriel remembered this conversation and headed for that warehouse.

*******

Renee rolled to her knees, trying to ignore the pain slicing through her. She had felt a draft the last time she was looking for an escape. Now, she was determined to find it. She had to keep herself from passing out. If he came back and found her like that, she wouldn't be able to fight him.

She crawled along the wall until she came to the opposite corner of the room. She could feel a strong draft blowing through the wall. Looking at the floor, she saw a large hole already there where brick had crumbled. Her fingers dug at the crumbling brick. Small particles fell to the floor, and she kept digging.

Renee ignored her bleeding fingers and kept digging. After a while, she couldn't ignore the pain anymore. She started kicking at the brick. Soon the pain slicing through her stomach and ribs became too unbearable to ignore. She collapsed to the floor, still conscious.

Behind her, she heard groggy groaning. Turning her head, she saw Caitlyn stirring. Renee got to her knees, but lacked the strength to get to her feet. She crawled over to her friend.

"Renee, where are we?" She asked as the events of the previous hours came back to her.

"Not entirely sure. We'll get out though." She tried smiling for her friends benefit. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit woozy." She started to sit up, but when the room started to spin, she decided to lay back down.

"He used chloroform to knock you out."

Her hand moved subconsciously to her stomach. "Will that affect the baby?"

"I don't think so." Really, Renee had no idea what affects it would have. But she knew she needed to assure her friend that everything would be fine.

"Danny?" Caitlyn's voice cracked from fear when she said her husband's name.

"He's alive, but unconscious at the moment. He'll be fine though."

"What about you?" She asked, noticing the bruises on Renee's face.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Renee tried grinning at her, but it came off as more of a grimace. "A bit beat up, but still breathing air."

The door opened, and they both turned their heads. Vince Craig grinned at them, no humor to it, only evil surrounded him. His gaze directed on Renee. "Your husband believes himself to be a shining knight. He'll learn his lesson."

Renee's stomach fell. Tears burned the corners of her eyes, but she didn't want that man to see her weakness.

"I left the gate and door unlocked for him. Wasn't that so sweet of me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Don't hurt him," Renee couldn't help blurting out the words.

"Oh, I will. You don't have to worry about that." He left the room again.

Renee lets the tears fall from her eyes. Caitlyn struggled to a sitting position, ignoring the spinning room this time. "Renee, it'll be okay," She tried calming her friend. "Gabe can take care of himself."

"He'll kill him," Renee wailed.

Caitlyn wrapped her arms around her friend, trying to comfort her. It didn't work.

"He's gonna kill him. I know it. He's gonna kill my husband." The rest of her words became incoherent babble, and all Caitlyn could do was let her get it out of her system.

*******

Gabriel searched the perimeter for a whole in the fence, sure the gate would be locked. When he didn't find one, he threw his coat over the top of the wire fence. Then, he jumped, catching the top and swung his body over the fence. He let his body fall to the ground, going to his knees when his feet touched solid ground. 'They always land on their feet in the movies.' 'But this isn't a movie, Gabe-boy,' the rational part of his brain told him. He started for the building, leaving his coat where it was.

When he found the door unlocked, a feeling of dread pricked the hair on his scalp. He shook it off and entered the building. 'Now where to?' He thought to himself.

A corridor went straight back from where he was standing. Another traveled perpendicular to it. He decided a straight path was best. As he entered the dark hallway, Vince Craig stepped out of an alcove to the right of where Gabriel had just stood. He snickered to himself. "That was your first mistake, boy. Or maybe your second."

He followed several feet behind his prey. When Gabriel heard the following footsteps, he spun around and was greeted with a fist to his chin. He felt himself falling, then his shoulder struck the floor. He jumped to his feet and glanced around for his attacker. "Over here, boy," a voice called from the shadows.

"Are you a coward?" Gabriel taunted. "To strike from behind then retreat to the shadows."

Ian stepped into the hallway just as Gabriel said this. He had to smile to himself. It may not have been the smartest thing to say, but this was Gabriel. He rarely did the smart thing in a dangerous situation. He saw a man lunge from the shadows and started forward.

Vince Craig sent his fist into Gabriel's stomach, the other connecting with his jaw. Gabriel let out a cry of pain as he doubled over. The man straightened Gabriel with an uppercut to the chin. He brought his arm back for another blow when he sensed someone approaching. Throwing Gabriel against the wall, he retreated to a door on the other side of the hallway. 'I'll have to finish this later.' He disappeared through the door.

Ian helped Gabriel to his feet. "Where did he go?"

Ian shook his head. "I do not know. He is gone."

Gabriel nodded his head, slightly dazed from the blows. "I've gotta find Renee."

He started down the hallway, opening doors and calling her name. "Renee, where are you?"

"Gabriel!"

He heard the muffled yell through a door at the end of the hallway. "Renee, I'm coming."

He yanked the door open and ran to her. "Oh God, I was so scared. Don't do that to me ever again, okay?" He whispered, finally letting her pull away from him.

"I didn't do it on purpose," she said with a weary smile.

"What did he do to you?" He asked, seeing the bruises and dried blood on her face.

"I'm fine, Gabe. Really I am," she assured him.

To Gabriel, it seemed she brushed his worries off too quickly. He'd find out what he had done to her. He sighed inwardly. Of course, it probably wouldn't be until she was ready to tell him.

"I think Danny needs an ambulance," Renee said.

"It is on its way," Ian told them from the doorway. Minutes later, Caitlyn watched as the paramedics loaded her husband into the back of the ambulance.

"You should have a doctor check you over, too," Renee told her friend. "Just to make sure everything's fine."

Caitlyn nodded her head as Ian led her to his car. Renee and Gabriel followed them. "I'm having the doctor examine you as well," Gabriel said as he drove.

"Gabe-" Renee protested.

"Don't even start. He hurt you. I don't know how bad, and you won't tell me. Jaime will." They rode the rest of the way to the hospital in silence.

*******

Sara walked into the waiting room and looked around the waiting room for her friends. Seeing Gabriel and Ian slumped in chairs, she approached them. "Thanks for calling me, Gabe," she said. "I got a hold of Jack, the leader of the Missing Persons team. They'll be here soon. They were certainly glad to hear Danny was still alive. How's Renee?"

Gabriel shrugged. "The doctor's still examining her. He should be finished soon though."

Just as he spoke those words, Dr. Jaime Granur walked into the waiting room. Gabriel got to his feet. "How is she, Jaime?"

"She's going to be fine, Gabriel. Her ribs are bruised. As is her jaw. Both of her eyes are swollen, but all the damage is superficial."

"He didn't?" Gabriel didn't want to, and couldn't, finish asking the question.

"No, he didn't."

"I thought there was something she wasn't telling me, but maybe I was just imagining things."

Jaime grinned at the young man's concern for his wife. "I bandaged the ends of her fingers, and she should probably be careful for the next few weeks while they heal. I have no idea what she did to tear the skin from them like that."

"Can I see her."

"Yeah. She's sleeping. Thought she was going to pass out on me before I finished the examination."

Gabriel hurried down the hallway without another word to the others in the room. As the doctor turned away, Sara asked, "How are the other two?"

He turned to face her. "I examined Caitlyn, and everything's fine. She thinks he used chloroform on her. But it didn't hurt the baby. I still want to keep an eye on her over the next few months to make sure no complications occur from it though. Danny has a few cracked ribs, and his face took quite a beating. As long as he takes it easy for a few weeks, he should be fine." The doctor paused for a moment then asked, "This guy really hated him, didn't he?"

"We think so."

"Did you catch him?"

"No. He was gone by the time we got there. But we will find him."

"Well, Renee can go home as soon as she wakes up. Caitlyn wants to wait here until Danny wakes. I want to keep him here for a few days. Probably the only way to keep him in bed long enough to let the healing process start."

Sara laughed. "I think you know him as well as you do Gabriel."

Dr. Granur laughed. "You women sure do like your men stubborn."

"They do. I'd just like one."

Jaime laughed again then realized she was being completely serious. "Whatever happened to your Irishman?"

"He went back to Ireland. Didn't like me being a cop. We both got tired of arguing about it. I wouldn't leave my job. He wouldn't leave me alone. It just didn't work out."

"I see."

He left, and Sara sank into a chair. "I would have told you, Sara."

"Told me what, Ian?"

"That your bard would leave. He has a wandering soul. It is a thing he could not change."

"I don't want to hear any of your 'I told you so's. I got enough of that from my partner when he left."

"I am sorry, Sara. I wanted to protect you, but knew you would not listen."

"Still trying to be my protector, Ian?"

"As long as you are the wielder of the Witchblade, I am your protector."

"And your wife?"

"I will always be her protector." A smile briefly lighted his face. "Even if she sometimes doesn't like it."

Sara laughed. "So is your son going to take over as protector of the wielder when a new one rises. And you believe Amie will be the new one."

"Yes. Lazar came to me in a dream."

"Lazar?"

"Have you not noticed a man always around?"

"Yeah. Is he connected to the Witchblade?"

"Yes. He is a guardian of it."

"And he came to you in a dream?"

"Yes. He showed me Amie as a young woman. She was wielding the weapon you currently wield. My son stood at her side. Young Gabriel's twins were there as well. They will take their parent's roles, only reversed."

"What do you mean 'reversed'?"

"Exactly that. Allanah will become the messenger, just like her father. Aidan will be the muse, the messenger's inspiration and steadying force."

"And you saw all of this in your dream?"

"Yes, Sara."

"Then, I'm glad I'm not trying to analyze your dreams."