A/N: Just to answer a continual question I get, 'Will Aurora and Holmes get together?' Kinda, maybe, i dunno. But the question will be dealt with very soon, I promise! ;)
-Kerowyn

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Chapter Six
Over The Roof and Through The Window

"What time is it?" I asked

"7:45." Holmes answered after a pause. "She should be leaving any time now."

I sighed and shifted position. The shift caused the walkie-talkie clipped to my belt to jab into my side. I tried again but this time my taser dug into my back. Holmes had offered a revolver like the one he was now carrying, but I refused. Finally I returned to my original position, with a sigh for my aching back. No one ever builds a roof thinking 'Will this be a comfortable spot for a stakeout?'

Holmes picked up the night vision goggles and surveyed the house with them. For once he was impressed by modern technology.

"Aurora, how do these things work?" He asked.

I chuckled and took the goggles. The house was covered in the characteristic green wash. Three vaguely human forms stood out against the dark green, with the occasional dot or blob that meant a fire, candle or electric light. One, obviously the cook, puttered about in a room on the ground floor. A second, Grant, was also seated in a room on the ground floor. The tiny flare of light nearby indicated that he was in a library or study. A third lay very still in a room on the upper floor. The third blob might be mistaken for a fire in a hearth if it weren't for the lack of movement.

"All light and heat is basically a form of radiation, right? The goggles just sense light that is outside the visible spectrum. Like the heat radiation given off by the human body."

"There she goes." Holmes said suddenly. The cook stepped out into the alley, locking the door behind her. Neither of us spoke until she disappeared around the corner.

"We should give her about ten minutes, just to make sure she doesn't come back for anything." I sighed, worrying the long black sleeves Patience wasn't my strong suit.

"Relax. At least we know Jane's alive." Holmes pointed out, trying to cheer me up. There was only one person the figure lying on the second floor could be. The fact that her body was still giving off strong, steady heat meant that she was still alive, but she had barely moved since we had started our stakeout three hours ago. At best she was just tied up, at worst she could be drugged or injured.

"Which reminds me," I pulled my other piece of modern equipment out of the bag. A pair of two-way radios. "If you need to talk to me just press this button and talk into the speaker. It works both ways so I'll be able to tell you when I'm clear."

Holmes turned over the receiver in his hands. "Like this?" He thumbed the button and spoke into the device, but the feedback from my receiver whined over the speaker.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Holmes asked dubiously.

"It will work once the radios aren't right next to each other." I assured him. "Just don't lose it." The joke garnered a grin from Holmes. Somewhere in the distance a bell tolled eight o'clock.

"C'mon. It's time."

Once down from the rooftops, Holmes looped around to the front of the street. He was dressed like a street thug, complete with seedy jacket. According to the plan he would break the window and make a run for it. Once rounding a corner he would toss the jacket and blend in with the upper class neighborhood. While Grant was chasing Holmes, I would free Jane. Theoretically, of course.

Part One of the plan went off without a hitch. I watched from the alley as Holmes approached the house silently, then chucked a brick through the window of the study. The window shattered instantly, showering the ground with sparkling shards. The reaction from inside the house was instantaneous. Grant let out a roar like a wounded bear and charged out the front door.

Holmes had a head start of about half a block, but Grant went after him anyway, slamming the door so hard that it bounced open again. I didn't waste any time. I was up the stairs and in the door in under ten seconds. I eased the door shut behind me, just in case someone decided to investigate.

The noise of the window breaking and Grant yelling brought out all the neighbors onto their porches. They started calling to each other, asking what was going on. I ignored the ruckus outside and headed for the stairs.

The house was cold, dark and slightly damp. It had a definite aura of malevolent decay. I went up the stairs, feeling my way with one hand. Near the top of the stairs my hand knocked into something, a portrait. There was just enough light to make out the woman in the picture, who bore an eerie resemblance to Jane Goldmeyer and Helena Beckham. Mrs. Anne Grant.

My brain processed this bit of information as the rest of me moved forward down the hall. The night-vision goggles could only tell me Jane's approximate location. I opened every door on the hall. Every door opened to reveal perfectly ordinary rooms, except for the last one, which was locked. ~It's always the last one.~ I thought.

"Aurora!" Holmes' voice scared the beejeezes out of me. I'd forgotten about the walkie-talkies. I fumbled with my receiver for a moment before replying.

"What?"

"He's coming back. Hurry up."

Grant must have realized that it was dangerous to leave his captive alone. There was no time for finesse. I kicked the door open.

At first this room seemed to be empty too. Then I saw a flicker of movement in the far corner of the room.

"It's alright, hon. I'm here to get you out." I said soothingly. Jane Goldmeyer was tied to a chair in the corner of the room. She didn't seem to have noticed me. Her eyes were wide, fixed on a point behind me. I looked around.

Directly across from where Jane was tied lay a sledgehammer. The mallet was quite clearly covered in blood and other organic material. I stepped in front of her, blocking the hammer from view. She blinked rapidly and then focused on me.

"I'm here to get you out." I said loudly and firmly. "But I need you to stay with me, okay?"

Jane blinked a few more times then nodded. The ropes that bound her to the chair were too complicated to untie. I remove a thin stiletto blade from my lock-pick kit and cut the ropes. Jane sagged from the chair onto the floor. She seemed too weak and spaced out to hold herself up.

~It's never easy.~ I pulled Jane to her feet and put one of her arms around my shoulder. Once upright she seemed to get the idea.

"Okay, now one foot in front of the other. C'mon girl." I coaxed her into a walk. We had just reached the stairs when Holmes' voice came out of the walkie-talkie.

"Aurora, he's at the door!" The warning did more harm than good. Jane spooked at the strange voice and tried to run, but being unable to support her own weight, all she was able to do was throw us both off balance.

I stumbled backwards, trying to regain my footing. It was no use. We both fell backwards. Jane managed to jab me in the stomach when she landed on top of me. Fortunately, the door slammed about the same time we hit the ground, covering up the noise.

Another slam followed the first, and I decided that Grant had gone into his study to examine the damage. Jane couldn't move fast enough for us to get down the stairs and out the door before Grant came out again. We were pinned down.

I pulled Jane into one of the doors along the hall and locked the door behind us. Aside from the standard fireplace the room was bare. There was a window overlooking the alley behind the house, if all else failed we could jump out the window. It was only about fifteen feet down.

Jane slid down against the wall, fainting from fear and exhaustion. I figured she would notice the talking black box. "Holmes, you there?" I whispered, careful to turn the volume down.

"Yes, where are you?"

"Upstairs." A moment's silence on the other end.

"I'm coming in."

"Like hell."

"I'll play the concerned neighbor. Ask if he's okay."

"There's only one stairway and it goes right past the front door."

Holmes considered this. "I'll call the police."

"With no proof and no warrant?" Holmes must be desperate to consider calling in the men in uniform. Comforting thought. A noise on the stairs caught my attention.

"Gotta go." I said and snapped off the handset. Hopefully Holmes wouldn't barge in after me.

The steps mounted the stairs slowly and deliberately. I realized that he was trying to make himself heard. Jane was no longer fainting. Her eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. The steps paced slowly past the door. I held my breath, anxiously awaiting Grant's reaction when he found his captive had tunneled out.

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.·´¨`·»¦«·Kerowyn·»¦«·´¨`·.