[b]From Chapter 5[/b][i]
The smile on Sloane's face didn't even slip. An uneasy feeling started in my toes when my trigger finger began to itch. Sloane was up to something, and it was no good. What exactly it was became clear with his next sentence. "Jack, have you seen your daughter in the last few minutes?" he questioned nonchalantly, nodding slightly toward the door.
I followed his line of vision, and my heart stopped beating for a moment when my eyes found Sydney. "Jack, Sark's got her!" I told him urgently.
"That's right Jack, just think of her as a little insurance policy. Sark will hold Sydney until you let me go. As you can see, your agents are having a hard time handling Willie, Vinnie, and Eddie so they won't be any help to you. Now I'm sure that if you left right now you could catch up with them before anything happened to her, but then you wouldn't be able to shoot me. What'll it be Jack? Me or your daughter?" [/i]
Fury mixed with terror in the pit of my stomach. I glanced over at Jack, expecting to see similarly torn emotions written across his face, but he just continued to stare the mob boss down, not even a flicker in his gazed indicating distress. Instead he was actually shaking his head, as if he was disappointed in Sloane. "I'm surprised at you Arvin," he said chidingly. "After all those years we worked together, you should know me well enough to know that I always have a back up plan."
"Oh yes, I know all about that Jack, but you won't be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat this time," he replied smugly.
"Mister Vaughn?" Jack said in a tone that left no doubt as to what he wanted.
"I'm on it Jack," I told him, relieved that he'd kept a cool enough head to find a solution-one Sloane had overlooked, judging from the expression on his face. "What, you forgot there were two of us here Sloane?" I goaded, enjoying the dismay painted across his face.
"You can't do that!" he exclaimed in consternation, seeing all his well laid plans falling apart..
"Watch me," I replied and turned to leave.
I was halfway to the door when Jack spoke again, his tone conversational. "Oh and Vaughn? If anything happens to my daughter I'll be forced to hurt you."
Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "I wouldn't expect any less," I said and stepped out of the building.
Afternoon had faded into evening while we'd been in the warehouse, and the sky had that dusky quality that comes between day and night. The nearby warehouses were casting long shadows and I knew I'd have to move fast if I wanted to find Sydney today.
I scanned the area, but they were already out of sight. "It hasn't been five minutes yet, he couldn't have taken her far," I muttered. "The only question is which way did they go?"
Looking around, I realized we weren't far from the water. A man like Sark would have an escape plan, and a boat would be perfect. "Hopefully my instincts are right," I said, crossing my fingers as I moved toward the marina.
I kept my eyes open, looking for signs that they were close, but I kept coming up empty. If they had been by there, you couldn't have proven it by me, and my worry grew as the daylight ebbed away.
A few minutes later, my hunches paid off. I could hear faint voices ahead, and one of them sounded like Sydney. "So tell me," she said, "what's with the accent? Did you Jekyll and Hyde your voice or something?" I smiled-it was definitely Syd, and she sounded none the worse for the wear.
"I spent a few years in Britain and never really lost the accent," he replied. "Of course, I fell back onto my native American inflections when I joined the FBI; it was just one way I made the job slightly more exciting before I turned to more serious forms of deceit. Anything I could do that made people believe something about myself that wasn't true, I did."
I was only a block from the waterfront now so I turned onto a parallel street. It wouldn't do to tip Sark off that I was coming. From the direction we were going, I surmised that he was heading for a pier I knew was isolated and empty-the kind of spot you would be able to hide a boat and leave from without drawing attention.
Sydney was speaking again, asking another question. I shook my head at her cheekiness, but at least it was keeping Sark's attention divided. With any luck, he wouldn't notice I was following him. "I did have one other question," she told him. "Why did you bother telling me about Dad? Wouldn't things have gone much more smoothly for you if we hadn't shown up?"
By now I was close enough that I could hear the smile in Sark's voice when he answered. "Remember Miss Bristow, I enjoy a challenge. Knowing you were coming just added an element of excitement to the game. When I was told to bring you into the loop I could hardly believe my good fortune."
"Who told you?" Syd asked, the confusion in her voice echoing my own. "Sloane?"
"No, Ted Grissom from the FBI. It was the last FBI order I followed," he reflected.
I quickly clamped down on the anger that surged though me at that little tidbit. Sure, Teddy had been playing us from the start, but I didn't have time to think about that. I could deal with him later. Sydney needed me now.
While they'd been talking, Sark had dragged her down the street to the pier. I took up watch from behind some large wooden crates as he shoved her towards a boat at the end of the dock. "Get in Miss Bristow," he ordered. She struggled to keep her balance as she climbed into the rocking boat, not an easy task with her hands tied behind her back. Sark made no move to help her though, he was busy holding a gun on her. The gun was the one thing that kept me from charging him, but I knew he'd have to put it down to untie the moorings. That would be my chance to get Syd.
A moment later my patience paid off. Once she was in the boat, he holstered his gun and reached for the rope tying the boat to the dock. Taking my weapon in hand, I trained it on Sark and stepped out of the shadows. "Move and I'll shoot you through the heart," I said coldly, advancing toward him.
He froze for a moment then slowly turned to face me. "Mister Vaughn, what a surprise. I didn't expect you to find us so quickly. Congratulations."
"What you really mean is that you didn't expect to see me at all," I corrected with a scowl. "You should know better than anyone that it's almost impossible to paint Jack Bristow into a corner. He's dealing with your boss, and I'm here for Sydney."
"I see," he said, dropping the rope to the dock. It landed with a loud thud that distracted me for an instant. Taking advantage of the situation, Sark jumped into the boat and pulled Sydney in front of him, drawing his weapon in the process. "Well well Mister Vaughn, it looks like we're on equal ground now," he taunted. "Now it's no nevermind to me what happens to the broad, but I'd lay odds that you don't feel the same."
"Get your mitts off her Sark," I spat out, kicking myself for letting the situation spin out of my control.
"See, that's the response I was hoping for," he told me. "I'd like to propose a compromise. You let us go now and I'll release Miss Bristow at my earliest possible convenience. She'll be home safe and sound before you even notice she's been gone."
I risked a quick look at Sydney, silently apologizing for what I was about to do, but she shook her head slightly, letting me know she understood. "I've got a better idea," I countered, refocusing my attention on Sark. "You let Sydney go and come with me, or this is the last conversation you'll ever have."
"You're in no position to be making demands," he commented with a smirk.
"That's what you think," I growled, drawing the hammer back and taking another step toward him. "Let her go, or you'll be swimming with the fishes."
His smile widened into a full fledged grin. "Funny you'd mention swimming," he said nonchalantly and shoved Sydney into the water.
The smile on Sloane's face didn't even slip. An uneasy feeling started in my toes when my trigger finger began to itch. Sloane was up to something, and it was no good. What exactly it was became clear with his next sentence. "Jack, have you seen your daughter in the last few minutes?" he questioned nonchalantly, nodding slightly toward the door.
I followed his line of vision, and my heart stopped beating for a moment when my eyes found Sydney. "Jack, Sark's got her!" I told him urgently.
"That's right Jack, just think of her as a little insurance policy. Sark will hold Sydney until you let me go. As you can see, your agents are having a hard time handling Willie, Vinnie, and Eddie so they won't be any help to you. Now I'm sure that if you left right now you could catch up with them before anything happened to her, but then you wouldn't be able to shoot me. What'll it be Jack? Me or your daughter?" [/i]
Fury mixed with terror in the pit of my stomach. I glanced over at Jack, expecting to see similarly torn emotions written across his face, but he just continued to stare the mob boss down, not even a flicker in his gazed indicating distress. Instead he was actually shaking his head, as if he was disappointed in Sloane. "I'm surprised at you Arvin," he said chidingly. "After all those years we worked together, you should know me well enough to know that I always have a back up plan."
"Oh yes, I know all about that Jack, but you won't be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat this time," he replied smugly.
"Mister Vaughn?" Jack said in a tone that left no doubt as to what he wanted.
"I'm on it Jack," I told him, relieved that he'd kept a cool enough head to find a solution-one Sloane had overlooked, judging from the expression on his face. "What, you forgot there were two of us here Sloane?" I goaded, enjoying the dismay painted across his face.
"You can't do that!" he exclaimed in consternation, seeing all his well laid plans falling apart..
"Watch me," I replied and turned to leave.
I was halfway to the door when Jack spoke again, his tone conversational. "Oh and Vaughn? If anything happens to my daughter I'll be forced to hurt you."
Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "I wouldn't expect any less," I said and stepped out of the building.
Afternoon had faded into evening while we'd been in the warehouse, and the sky had that dusky quality that comes between day and night. The nearby warehouses were casting long shadows and I knew I'd have to move fast if I wanted to find Sydney today.
I scanned the area, but they were already out of sight. "It hasn't been five minutes yet, he couldn't have taken her far," I muttered. "The only question is which way did they go?"
Looking around, I realized we weren't far from the water. A man like Sark would have an escape plan, and a boat would be perfect. "Hopefully my instincts are right," I said, crossing my fingers as I moved toward the marina.
I kept my eyes open, looking for signs that they were close, but I kept coming up empty. If they had been by there, you couldn't have proven it by me, and my worry grew as the daylight ebbed away.
A few minutes later, my hunches paid off. I could hear faint voices ahead, and one of them sounded like Sydney. "So tell me," she said, "what's with the accent? Did you Jekyll and Hyde your voice or something?" I smiled-it was definitely Syd, and she sounded none the worse for the wear.
"I spent a few years in Britain and never really lost the accent," he replied. "Of course, I fell back onto my native American inflections when I joined the FBI; it was just one way I made the job slightly more exciting before I turned to more serious forms of deceit. Anything I could do that made people believe something about myself that wasn't true, I did."
I was only a block from the waterfront now so I turned onto a parallel street. It wouldn't do to tip Sark off that I was coming. From the direction we were going, I surmised that he was heading for a pier I knew was isolated and empty-the kind of spot you would be able to hide a boat and leave from without drawing attention.
Sydney was speaking again, asking another question. I shook my head at her cheekiness, but at least it was keeping Sark's attention divided. With any luck, he wouldn't notice I was following him. "I did have one other question," she told him. "Why did you bother telling me about Dad? Wouldn't things have gone much more smoothly for you if we hadn't shown up?"
By now I was close enough that I could hear the smile in Sark's voice when he answered. "Remember Miss Bristow, I enjoy a challenge. Knowing you were coming just added an element of excitement to the game. When I was told to bring you into the loop I could hardly believe my good fortune."
"Who told you?" Syd asked, the confusion in her voice echoing my own. "Sloane?"
"No, Ted Grissom from the FBI. It was the last FBI order I followed," he reflected.
I quickly clamped down on the anger that surged though me at that little tidbit. Sure, Teddy had been playing us from the start, but I didn't have time to think about that. I could deal with him later. Sydney needed me now.
While they'd been talking, Sark had dragged her down the street to the pier. I took up watch from behind some large wooden crates as he shoved her towards a boat at the end of the dock. "Get in Miss Bristow," he ordered. She struggled to keep her balance as she climbed into the rocking boat, not an easy task with her hands tied behind her back. Sark made no move to help her though, he was busy holding a gun on her. The gun was the one thing that kept me from charging him, but I knew he'd have to put it down to untie the moorings. That would be my chance to get Syd.
A moment later my patience paid off. Once she was in the boat, he holstered his gun and reached for the rope tying the boat to the dock. Taking my weapon in hand, I trained it on Sark and stepped out of the shadows. "Move and I'll shoot you through the heart," I said coldly, advancing toward him.
He froze for a moment then slowly turned to face me. "Mister Vaughn, what a surprise. I didn't expect you to find us so quickly. Congratulations."
"What you really mean is that you didn't expect to see me at all," I corrected with a scowl. "You should know better than anyone that it's almost impossible to paint Jack Bristow into a corner. He's dealing with your boss, and I'm here for Sydney."
"I see," he said, dropping the rope to the dock. It landed with a loud thud that distracted me for an instant. Taking advantage of the situation, Sark jumped into the boat and pulled Sydney in front of him, drawing his weapon in the process. "Well well Mister Vaughn, it looks like we're on equal ground now," he taunted. "Now it's no nevermind to me what happens to the broad, but I'd lay odds that you don't feel the same."
"Get your mitts off her Sark," I spat out, kicking myself for letting the situation spin out of my control.
"See, that's the response I was hoping for," he told me. "I'd like to propose a compromise. You let us go now and I'll release Miss Bristow at my earliest possible convenience. She'll be home safe and sound before you even notice she's been gone."
I risked a quick look at Sydney, silently apologizing for what I was about to do, but she shook her head slightly, letting me know she understood. "I've got a better idea," I countered, refocusing my attention on Sark. "You let Sydney go and come with me, or this is the last conversation you'll ever have."
"You're in no position to be making demands," he commented with a smirk.
"That's what you think," I growled, drawing the hammer back and taking another step toward him. "Let her go, or you'll be swimming with the fishes."
His smile widened into a full fledged grin. "Funny you'd mention swimming," he said nonchalantly and shoved Sydney into the water.