Anthony used his key and unlocked the door to the condo. The interior was
illuminated by the golden glow of the setting sun turning the white décor
into a mélange of oranges and pinks. He knew that Dylan had been expecting
him to come earlier but he didn't want her involved in whatever was going
on. He hoped that he had missed her and if so would just get his things
and leave. He set his keys on the end table and entered the bedroom. The
sun casting its warm hues in there as well revealed to him a sleeping
Dylan.
She slept on her back her lips slightly parted letting out soft puffs of air. He watched her eye lids flutter as she dreamt and reached out to stroke her copper hair that was spread across the linen pillow case. He was quiet but he knew if he went to get his things he would wake her. Placing a light kiss on her forehead he went back into the living room, lit a cigarette and waited for the sun to finish sinking below the ocean.
It was an hour later that the phone rang. Dylan rolled over and tried to adjust to the dark room as she answered the phone she knocked over a cup of tea that was on the table next to it. "Shit! Hello?" She answered trying to remember how she got home. Dylan switched on the light and rubbed her eyes, blinking at the brightness.
"Dylan, we thought you wanted to visit Rutherford." It was Natalie. Dylan tried to mop up the tea with a dirty shirt she had left laying on the floor. "Yeah, I did. I guess I fell asleep."
"You might want to get over here soon. He's awake and asking for you. He won't talk to either me or Alex and he said he won't say a word to the police."
Swinging her legs out of bed Dylan said, "I'll be right there. See you soon." She hung up the phone and went to the bathroom and threw the now soaked shirt in the bathtub making a mental note to remember to wash it out when she got home.
As she started for the living room she couldn't believe that Anthony hadn't come. She hadn't really specified a time but she had expected him to at least show up. Entering the room she was shocked to see him sitting there in the dark. In the pale light that came from the window she could make out his silhouette sitting in the white arm chair that they had talked about getting rid of. The wisps of smoke that circled his head floated with the luminescence of clouds in front of the moon. She stepped closer and he turned his head and looked at her. "Hi," she said. He nodded. "I suppose you want your things. You could have woken me you know." She reached over and turned a table lamp on but he quickly turned it back off. "Why?"
He took a breath and put his cigarette out. "I don't know who might be watching," he said standing and going into the bedroom.
"What are you talking about?" she asked following him. She watched him draw the draperies that hung on the French doors closed.
"They think I killed Neville." He sat on the bed and looked at her; the lack of surprise on her face told him everything. "You know?"
"Yeah, Nat called me early this morning to tell me he had been taken to the hospital. Stabbed by a rapier. He is still alive." He shook his head and then placed it in his hands, pressing his fingertips against his forehead. Dylan sat down on the bed next to him and reached out and stroked the short, bristly hair on the back of his head near his neck. Anthony involuntarily shivered and wished that she would stop it; he couldn't concentrate when she did that.
"Your finger prints were on the handle," she said and waited for a response. When none came she continued. "The egg, I found it in your things. It was in your drawer." He looked up at her and shook his head. "Your finger prints were on it too."
"Dylan." he said but words were failing him. He went to the nightstand next to the bed and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, "I may be a lot of things but I am not a thief." Then he stood and started for the front door. Dylan followed closely on his heels. "Where do you think you are going?" she asked and placed her hand against the door so he couldn't open it.
He wrote again, "Away. If I am here you aren't safe."
"You can't leave!" she said louder than she expected too. He arched an eyebrow at her. Then more softly she added, "If you leave then the police will think you are guilty."
Writing another note he answered her, "They already do."
"I don't." she said. He looked at her surprised and handed her another note, "Why?" "Because I saw the Chief and regardless of what the evidence says I think he is behind this, because I know you, and because." she paused and smiled at him, not sure if putting her heart on the line was wise but she did it anyway, "Te iu besc."
He shook his head then kissed her gently. He couldn't figure her out and doubted he ever would. "Listen, I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry," she said her heart pounding from the kiss. Anthony knew she could normally take care of herself but the men who were trying to frame him weren't exactly normal. He knew the kind of men who would set him up wouldn't think a thing about hurting or killing Dylan to get to him. She was his primary concern. The thought of which took him aback, because he couldn't remember when another person had been his concern before her.
"I have to go to the hospital; Rutherford is awake and is asking for me. Stay here." He looked like he would bolt at any minute. "Promise me you will be here when I get back." He didn't reply. "Promise," she insisted. He looked at her and nodded. "Good. And if you aren't here I promise I'll track you down and kick your butt for leaving me even if that means going to Bucharest to do it." Anthony's hand snaked out and caressed her hair. Dylan nodded and braced herself. The rip came and it wasn't as bad as she expected. "I must be getting used to it," she thought with a small smile as she watched him inhale its fragrance while running the strands along his jaw line. Then she realized that getting used to someone pulling your hair out wasn't normal. "Then again", she added silently, "what fun is normal?"
*-*-*-*-*
Francisco sat in his car that was parked outside of Dylan's. He had sat too long in front of the old house waiting for the Thin Man to show up. He knew he did; five hours he waited and there was no sign of anyone until the museum woman, Ekaterina arrived home. Then he waited a little longer and the assassin still didn't come so he headed to the angel's place. He had been sitting there another two hours and once again didn't see anything. He hadn't seen Anthony all day and was getting worried, the Chief would want a report as he did every evening and he didn't have anything to tell. That wasn't good.
The main door to the building opened and as luck would have it Dylan exited and went to her car. Francisco breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that the angel would lead him to the Chief's primary target. He started his engine and slowly followed her keeping a safe distance. He didn't want or need to be spotted. After a few minutes he recognized the route she was following as the way to the hospital. "She must be going to check on Rutherford," he thought and in his confidence he became a little sloppy.
Dylan hadn't thought much about the beige colored el Camino parked out side her building. She still hadn't thought much about it as it followed her a couple of blocks, but she did think something about it as she glanced in her rearview mirror and noticed that the driver was keeping the same constant distance and that it never wavered even if another car pulled in front of him. Then she realized she had seen the car before, it had been parked outside Anthony's when she had stumbled across him and Kate on the couch.
Although the gas tank of her car was full she pulled over in the Texaco (DEA) station to observe what the other car would do. The driver didn't pull in as well; he pulled across the street into the parking lot of the grocery store. She bent over and pulled the squeegee from the bucket and gave the windshield a once over eliciting, cat calls from two guys in a pick up truck at the other pump. Then she got back in her car. As she pulled off the lot she noticed the elCamino waiting to exit the parking lot of the store. "That's it. He is defiantly tailing me," she thought.
They pulled up to the intersection as the light turned red. She cautiously glanced in her mirror again and saw he was a man not much older than Anthony, also with jet black hair and deep brown eyes. "Here goes nothing," she thought and as the light turned green she threw her Mustang into reverse instead of stepping on the gas, causing her to ram into his car.
He jumped out of the car and went to survey the damage. "Oh my," she said innocently looking over his shoulder. "I am so sorry. I can't believe that I did that."
Francisco couldn't either. He loved his car it was his baby. "What did you do?" he asked as he saw the whole headlight had been pulverized and all that was left were crumbs of yellow and white plastic.
Dylan wasn't the best at playing a bimbo but she could if she had too. "Come on Nat send me inspiration," she thought. "I guess I was confused for a minute, I am so sorry. Maybe we should move the cars over there so we don't block traffic." She signaled to the lot building on the corner that had been abandoned for sometime. Francisco just nodded and got back into his car and followed her.
They pulled into the lot and she suggested exchanging insurance information. "No, that is not necessary," he said in a thick accent.
"Are you sure you are okay? I hope you don't have whiplash."
"Fine, Fine," he said. "I don't worry about it you don't worry about it. It was an accident."
"I don't think you are," said Dylan "In fact I think you might be badly injured." Without a second thought she kicked him and sent him stumbling backwards into the building. "I think you might end up in a lot of pain if you don't tell me what I want to know, Mr. Duarte."
He was surprised she knew who he was. That wasn't in the plan. She was supposed to suspect Anthony. Then he realized it must have been Rutherford. He swung at her and she ducked. "Who hired you?" she asked throwing a punch.
Francisco moved out of the way and circled her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked with a smile.
"I already do. I just want to hear you say it." She said avoiding another blow and kicking him in the stomach.
"I will say it when he wants me to and not a minute before." She punched at him again but he caught her fist and swung her into the building. She felt blood trickle slowly out of her nose and wiped it off with the back of her sleeve. "That's it." She thought and attacked as hard as she could. She dealt blow after blow and just when she thought she had him he picked up a scrap of board that lay in the parking lot and hit it hard against the back of her head. Dylan crumpled unconscious to the ground.
"But I may let you see him," he said to her lifeless form on the pavement. Then he picked her up and placed her in the passenger seat of his car making sure the seat belt was secure.
*-*-*-*-*
Natalie paced the hall outside Rutherford's room. She had tried to coax him into talking to her but all he said was, "You are quite pretty love, but you're not Dylan." Then he sent her away. She was just worried as the doctors that he would slip back into a coma. Even though he was awake that chance remained. She was just glad she didn't have Alex's job which was to keep Kate occupied
Kate was insistent upon knowing what the results of the fingerprints yielded and how soon the "bloody bastard" was going to be arrested. So far Alex has stalled her by telling her they had no results yet due to a server problem and promising to contact her with the results as soon as they were in, but even that she did reluctantly. Natalie had insisted to Alex that Dylan needed a chance to prove that Anthony was innocent. Although she wasn't too sure of that herself she decided to let them try. Dylan's remark, "I know you will disregard everything thing I'm going to say, the old 'Dylan always falls for the bad guy'." had hurt; when Alex said that on the beach she had been joking. Although it seemed true at times she had dated Chad, and even with which side the Thin Man was on being a shade of gray Alex had to admit that he had helped them at least twice, HALO and the whole Vivian Wood fiasco.
"Any sign of Dylan yet?" asked Alex handing Natalie a cup of coffee.
"No. I tried her mobile while you were getting the coffee and there isn't any answer," said Nat worriedly.
"Have you tried the condo?"
"No answer there either. It's not like Dylan. I know she is usually late but it's been an over and hour and a half since I called and she doesn't answer her phone. I have a bad feeling about this."
Alex wasn't feeling much better about it. Natalie was right Dylan always had her cell phone with her and always answered. She was almost more attached to her phone than her lighter, but not by much. "Listen if you want me to I'll drive to her place and check on her. Chances are she will be here before I get back."
"Could you?" asked Natalie. "That would be great."
Alex turned and started down the pale peach corridor, "I'll call you when I get there."
She slept on her back her lips slightly parted letting out soft puffs of air. He watched her eye lids flutter as she dreamt and reached out to stroke her copper hair that was spread across the linen pillow case. He was quiet but he knew if he went to get his things he would wake her. Placing a light kiss on her forehead he went back into the living room, lit a cigarette and waited for the sun to finish sinking below the ocean.
It was an hour later that the phone rang. Dylan rolled over and tried to adjust to the dark room as she answered the phone she knocked over a cup of tea that was on the table next to it. "Shit! Hello?" She answered trying to remember how she got home. Dylan switched on the light and rubbed her eyes, blinking at the brightness.
"Dylan, we thought you wanted to visit Rutherford." It was Natalie. Dylan tried to mop up the tea with a dirty shirt she had left laying on the floor. "Yeah, I did. I guess I fell asleep."
"You might want to get over here soon. He's awake and asking for you. He won't talk to either me or Alex and he said he won't say a word to the police."
Swinging her legs out of bed Dylan said, "I'll be right there. See you soon." She hung up the phone and went to the bathroom and threw the now soaked shirt in the bathtub making a mental note to remember to wash it out when she got home.
As she started for the living room she couldn't believe that Anthony hadn't come. She hadn't really specified a time but she had expected him to at least show up. Entering the room she was shocked to see him sitting there in the dark. In the pale light that came from the window she could make out his silhouette sitting in the white arm chair that they had talked about getting rid of. The wisps of smoke that circled his head floated with the luminescence of clouds in front of the moon. She stepped closer and he turned his head and looked at her. "Hi," she said. He nodded. "I suppose you want your things. You could have woken me you know." She reached over and turned a table lamp on but he quickly turned it back off. "Why?"
He took a breath and put his cigarette out. "I don't know who might be watching," he said standing and going into the bedroom.
"What are you talking about?" she asked following him. She watched him draw the draperies that hung on the French doors closed.
"They think I killed Neville." He sat on the bed and looked at her; the lack of surprise on her face told him everything. "You know?"
"Yeah, Nat called me early this morning to tell me he had been taken to the hospital. Stabbed by a rapier. He is still alive." He shook his head and then placed it in his hands, pressing his fingertips against his forehead. Dylan sat down on the bed next to him and reached out and stroked the short, bristly hair on the back of his head near his neck. Anthony involuntarily shivered and wished that she would stop it; he couldn't concentrate when she did that.
"Your finger prints were on the handle," she said and waited for a response. When none came she continued. "The egg, I found it in your things. It was in your drawer." He looked up at her and shook his head. "Your finger prints were on it too."
"Dylan." he said but words were failing him. He went to the nightstand next to the bed and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, "I may be a lot of things but I am not a thief." Then he stood and started for the front door. Dylan followed closely on his heels. "Where do you think you are going?" she asked and placed her hand against the door so he couldn't open it.
He wrote again, "Away. If I am here you aren't safe."
"You can't leave!" she said louder than she expected too. He arched an eyebrow at her. Then more softly she added, "If you leave then the police will think you are guilty."
Writing another note he answered her, "They already do."
"I don't." she said. He looked at her surprised and handed her another note, "Why?" "Because I saw the Chief and regardless of what the evidence says I think he is behind this, because I know you, and because." she paused and smiled at him, not sure if putting her heart on the line was wise but she did it anyway, "Te iu besc."
He shook his head then kissed her gently. He couldn't figure her out and doubted he ever would. "Listen, I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry," she said her heart pounding from the kiss. Anthony knew she could normally take care of herself but the men who were trying to frame him weren't exactly normal. He knew the kind of men who would set him up wouldn't think a thing about hurting or killing Dylan to get to him. She was his primary concern. The thought of which took him aback, because he couldn't remember when another person had been his concern before her.
"I have to go to the hospital; Rutherford is awake and is asking for me. Stay here." He looked like he would bolt at any minute. "Promise me you will be here when I get back." He didn't reply. "Promise," she insisted. He looked at her and nodded. "Good. And if you aren't here I promise I'll track you down and kick your butt for leaving me even if that means going to Bucharest to do it." Anthony's hand snaked out and caressed her hair. Dylan nodded and braced herself. The rip came and it wasn't as bad as she expected. "I must be getting used to it," she thought with a small smile as she watched him inhale its fragrance while running the strands along his jaw line. Then she realized that getting used to someone pulling your hair out wasn't normal. "Then again", she added silently, "what fun is normal?"
*-*-*-*-*
Francisco sat in his car that was parked outside of Dylan's. He had sat too long in front of the old house waiting for the Thin Man to show up. He knew he did; five hours he waited and there was no sign of anyone until the museum woman, Ekaterina arrived home. Then he waited a little longer and the assassin still didn't come so he headed to the angel's place. He had been sitting there another two hours and once again didn't see anything. He hadn't seen Anthony all day and was getting worried, the Chief would want a report as he did every evening and he didn't have anything to tell. That wasn't good.
The main door to the building opened and as luck would have it Dylan exited and went to her car. Francisco breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that the angel would lead him to the Chief's primary target. He started his engine and slowly followed her keeping a safe distance. He didn't want or need to be spotted. After a few minutes he recognized the route she was following as the way to the hospital. "She must be going to check on Rutherford," he thought and in his confidence he became a little sloppy.
Dylan hadn't thought much about the beige colored el Camino parked out side her building. She still hadn't thought much about it as it followed her a couple of blocks, but she did think something about it as she glanced in her rearview mirror and noticed that the driver was keeping the same constant distance and that it never wavered even if another car pulled in front of him. Then she realized she had seen the car before, it had been parked outside Anthony's when she had stumbled across him and Kate on the couch.
Although the gas tank of her car was full she pulled over in the Texaco (DEA) station to observe what the other car would do. The driver didn't pull in as well; he pulled across the street into the parking lot of the grocery store. She bent over and pulled the squeegee from the bucket and gave the windshield a once over eliciting, cat calls from two guys in a pick up truck at the other pump. Then she got back in her car. As she pulled off the lot she noticed the elCamino waiting to exit the parking lot of the store. "That's it. He is defiantly tailing me," she thought.
They pulled up to the intersection as the light turned red. She cautiously glanced in her mirror again and saw he was a man not much older than Anthony, also with jet black hair and deep brown eyes. "Here goes nothing," she thought and as the light turned green she threw her Mustang into reverse instead of stepping on the gas, causing her to ram into his car.
He jumped out of the car and went to survey the damage. "Oh my," she said innocently looking over his shoulder. "I am so sorry. I can't believe that I did that."
Francisco couldn't either. He loved his car it was his baby. "What did you do?" he asked as he saw the whole headlight had been pulverized and all that was left were crumbs of yellow and white plastic.
Dylan wasn't the best at playing a bimbo but she could if she had too. "Come on Nat send me inspiration," she thought. "I guess I was confused for a minute, I am so sorry. Maybe we should move the cars over there so we don't block traffic." She signaled to the lot building on the corner that had been abandoned for sometime. Francisco just nodded and got back into his car and followed her.
They pulled into the lot and she suggested exchanging insurance information. "No, that is not necessary," he said in a thick accent.
"Are you sure you are okay? I hope you don't have whiplash."
"Fine, Fine," he said. "I don't worry about it you don't worry about it. It was an accident."
"I don't think you are," said Dylan "In fact I think you might be badly injured." Without a second thought she kicked him and sent him stumbling backwards into the building. "I think you might end up in a lot of pain if you don't tell me what I want to know, Mr. Duarte."
He was surprised she knew who he was. That wasn't in the plan. She was supposed to suspect Anthony. Then he realized it must have been Rutherford. He swung at her and she ducked. "Who hired you?" she asked throwing a punch.
Francisco moved out of the way and circled her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked with a smile.
"I already do. I just want to hear you say it." She said avoiding another blow and kicking him in the stomach.
"I will say it when he wants me to and not a minute before." She punched at him again but he caught her fist and swung her into the building. She felt blood trickle slowly out of her nose and wiped it off with the back of her sleeve. "That's it." She thought and attacked as hard as she could. She dealt blow after blow and just when she thought she had him he picked up a scrap of board that lay in the parking lot and hit it hard against the back of her head. Dylan crumpled unconscious to the ground.
"But I may let you see him," he said to her lifeless form on the pavement. Then he picked her up and placed her in the passenger seat of his car making sure the seat belt was secure.
*-*-*-*-*
Natalie paced the hall outside Rutherford's room. She had tried to coax him into talking to her but all he said was, "You are quite pretty love, but you're not Dylan." Then he sent her away. She was just worried as the doctors that he would slip back into a coma. Even though he was awake that chance remained. She was just glad she didn't have Alex's job which was to keep Kate occupied
Kate was insistent upon knowing what the results of the fingerprints yielded and how soon the "bloody bastard" was going to be arrested. So far Alex has stalled her by telling her they had no results yet due to a server problem and promising to contact her with the results as soon as they were in, but even that she did reluctantly. Natalie had insisted to Alex that Dylan needed a chance to prove that Anthony was innocent. Although she wasn't too sure of that herself she decided to let them try. Dylan's remark, "I know you will disregard everything thing I'm going to say, the old 'Dylan always falls for the bad guy'." had hurt; when Alex said that on the beach she had been joking. Although it seemed true at times she had dated Chad, and even with which side the Thin Man was on being a shade of gray Alex had to admit that he had helped them at least twice, HALO and the whole Vivian Wood fiasco.
"Any sign of Dylan yet?" asked Alex handing Natalie a cup of coffee.
"No. I tried her mobile while you were getting the coffee and there isn't any answer," said Nat worriedly.
"Have you tried the condo?"
"No answer there either. It's not like Dylan. I know she is usually late but it's been an over and hour and a half since I called and she doesn't answer her phone. I have a bad feeling about this."
Alex wasn't feeling much better about it. Natalie was right Dylan always had her cell phone with her and always answered. She was almost more attached to her phone than her lighter, but not by much. "Listen if you want me to I'll drive to her place and check on her. Chances are she will be here before I get back."
"Could you?" asked Natalie. "That would be great."
Alex turned and started down the pale peach corridor, "I'll call you when I get there."