AN: Thanks again to my betas Kyre and Alidah.
Dancing in the Moonlight- Chapter 6
Molly sat in the car mulling over the events of the day. She felt like she was being sucked into a vortex. Thoughts swirled and danced in her head...it can't be...can it? What if it's true? What have I gotten myself into? She glanced furtively at Bling, as he drove, his face set and determined. What do I know about this man? He could be a murderer. All I have to go on is a resume... and my instincts. She clutched the chart she in her hands tighter.
As if he heard her thoughts, Bling turned and gave Molly a reassuring smile before turning his eyes back to the road. "I know you must be thinking: how the hell did I get into this?" Bling said, as he approached a checkpoint into sector seven.
"And how would you know that?" she asked quietly.
"Because I sure as hell would be," he replied. "I know you have a ton of questions, but I promise you'll get all the answers you want. If nothing else, Molly, we will get help for...Bobby." Bling stopped at the checkpoint. He and Molly presented their passes and were waved through. "It's obvious you care a lot about him. What drew you to him?"
Molly contemplated the question for a moment. "I'm not really sure," she said hesitantly. "There was just something about him. He was so ill when he came to us, terrified of everything. Anytime someone came near, he would cower like he expected to be beaten. He wouldn't look at anyone. It took me days to figure out how to get him to respond to me, how to get him to do anything. I had to give him permission. I could get him to talk a little. One day he smiled at me, and that was all it took. I looked into his eyes and could see so much sadness and pain. I also saw recognition and I knew there was someone there."
Bling's hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. "I'm glad you were there for him, Molly."
"Thank you," she said softly, "Exactly where are we going Bling?"
"We're heading to the penthouse of Fogle Towers. We are going to meet Max Cale," he said.
Molly sat silently for the remainder of the ride. She looked out the window, seeing the shabby streets turn into clean, well-kept boulevards as they neared the sector nine checkpoint. She rarely found a need to come to this area of Seattle, so she looked around with curiosity and interest. She presented her sector pass at the checkpoint as they came into sector nine proper. Bling drove for several more minutes then turned into the garage of a large building. After parking he and Molly got out of the car and stepped into an elevator.
Bling buzzed the penthouse and got no response. "I know she's there," he said, pulling a key card out of his pocket and swiping it in the lock. The elevator jerked slightly and began the slow rise to the penthouse.
When the elevator stopped and the door opened, Molly, followed Bling into a broad foyer. There was a single door, made of polished red wood. Bling grabbed the doorknob and turned it. The door swung open, revealing the interior of the penthouse. There were few lights on, giving Molly the odd sensation of being in a cave. Surreptitiously, Molly glanced around noting the artwork and minimalist austerity of the apartment. It was beautiful, but cold and forbidding. She gasped involuntarily when a woman rose, catlike, from the sofa.
"What do you want Bling?" asked Max.
Molly looked at Max Cale. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but this wasn't it. The Max Cale she remembered from the society pages was a sophisticated smiling woman. This woman was almost feral. Her hair formed wild curls around her face, giving the impression of a lioness about to strike. Her face was a mixture of anguish, grief and barely suppressed rage.
"Why are you here Bling? Who is this?" Max asked harshly, indicating Molly. In a sudden shift her face closed. The wild emotions vanished, replaced by a cold mask. Her voice was flat and emotionless as she said, "Like I even care who. Just leave."
"Max! Listen to me!" Bling enjoined.
Once again her emotions spilled out. "Why?" Max spat. "You quit on me! Turned your back and ran. I will never give up!" Max began to stalk the room, her grief and rage ready to escape at any moment. She finally stopped moving and looked out the window, her back to them.
Bling took in the rage and pain without comment, waiting for it to subside. "Max, please come sit down. I have something you need to hear."
Max snorted and asked, "And just what would that be?" She did not turn to face them. "Is that why she is here? Another dead-end, another person angling for the reward? Twelve million dollars is a lot of scratch." She laughed mirthlessly.
"Max, I saw Logan today." Bling said flatly.
Max whirled and looked at Bling incredulously, "How? Where? You're sure?" Her tortured voice was raw with pain.
Bling walked to Max and pulled her into his arms where she began to sob uncontrollably. Molly, uncomfortable with the situation, moved away from them toward the kitchen. She stopped and picked up a picture on an end table. Her eyes widened as she saw a man with spiky, sandy colored hair grinning back at her. An unbidden, "Oh my God," escaped from her lips. She turned in time to hear Bling say to Max, "Max, Logan is alive!"
~~~~
Kyle Gentry was restless. There was something wrong that he couldn't put his finger on. His thoughts began drifting back to Dante Bling. Something about Bling bothered him. Sighing heavily, Gentry grabbed his keys and left his house, heading back to Timberview.
When he arrived, he walked straight to the nurses' station. "Debby will you get the personnel file for Dante Bling and bring it to my office? Oh, and bring me a cup of coffee, too." He walked toward his office only to hear a high keening wail coming from the direction of Bobby's room. He stopped momentarily, smiled and kept walking.
He sat down in his office and waited for Debby to arrive with the file. He looked on his desk for Bobby Whiteson's chart. Not finding it, Gentry looked through all the charts, and he realized that it was missing. There was only one person who could have taken Bobby's chart.
A knock on his door disturbed his thought process. "Come in," he said shortly. The door opened and Debby entered carrying a cup of coffee. "Dr Gentry, I can't find the file. It's not in the personnel office. I can't think of where Judy might have put it. I'm sorry."
Gentry's eyes narrowed momentarily then he smiled casually. "It's probably in a stack of papers on Miss Webb's desk. Thanks Debby. Oh, one more thing," Gentry said offhandedly. "When did Molly Webb leave tonight?"
"I'm not exactly sure Dr Gentry. She was here for awhile after you left, but I'm not sure how long."
Gentry frowned at the information, "That will be all. Thank you." Debby quickly left. Gentry made a decision and reached for the phone. A slight sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead as he dialed a number.
"Why are you calling me?" came a cold voice on the line.
"I have reason to suspect that 452 might know Cale is here. Or if she doesn't now she will soon," Gentry said, glancing around the room nervously as if looking for a method of escape. His life was on the line and he knew it.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Prepare to move him now. Do whatever you have to do to ensure that she is unable to take him. Kill him before that happens. Am I perfectly clear?"
"I understand perfectly."
"Very good. I'm assembling a team. It will take a few hours for them to arrive. I will be there in less than twelve hours." The line went dead.
~~~
"He's alive!" Max stepped back from Bling and looked at him, hope in her eyes. "Where? Lets go now!" Max sprang into a flurry of action crossing the apartment as she began gathering things she would need.
Watching her, Molly remembered going to the zoo with her parents when she was a child. Max reminded her of a panther she saw there, beautiful and dangerous. Max moved with feline grace, unconscious of the power she radiated as she hunted the room, intent on her task.
Molly was startled out of her reverie by Bling.
"Max, we can't go in like this," he was saying calmly.
Max twisted to stare at him. "Why not?" she asked with unnatural calm. "We have to get him out."
"We go in like this and our chances of bringing him out alive are slim to none. I have someone who can help us." Bling nodded his head in Molly's direction.
Max slowly turned in Molly's direction and Molly swore that she could see a slight green glow in her eyes.
"Tell me." Max commanded sitting down at the dining room table "I want to hear everything."
Molly walked nervously to the table and sat down, still clutching the chart. She glanced at Bling, who had also taken a seat, and he gave her a reassuring look.
Molly cleared her throat and began to speak in a low voice. Bobby Whiteson came to our facility..."
"Who is Bobby Whiteson?" interrupted Max. her voice icy.
"Max," Bling pleaded, "Hear Molly out; she's the only who can help us."
Molly opened the chart she held and began again. "Bobby... I'm sorry Mrs. Cale... Bobby is the name I know him by. He was admitted almost six months ago in an extreme psychotic state. He babbled incoherently about a cult. He kept saying that he didn't have a name, that he was nobody He was very fearful of any physical contact."
"His physical condition was poor. He was, and remains, very malnourished. There are multiple scars on his arms from suicide attempts. He has a tattoo on the back of his neck. It's a bar code. The code reads the word nothing."
Max jumped up and began to pace again. She looked over at Bling and returned to sit down. "I'm sorry," she said to Molly. "Please continue."
Molly started speaking again. "He also had marks around his neck, wrists and ankles, which I was told were from a recent suicide attempts." Molly's voice cracked a little as she recounted the history of Bobby Whiteson.
Max turned her head and regarded Molly. Her emotions were closely hooded but Molly felt the intensity of the stare.
Molly looked back at her chart and began to go through the contents. She gasped; a quiet "Oh God" escaped her lips.
"What!" Bling exclaimed. Max looked quietly at Molly waiting for her reply.
Molly looked up at them, tears in her eyes. "They've been torturing him. I don't know why I didn't realize it before."
"In what way, Molly?" Bling asked.
Molly looked at Bling, "There are parts of Dr Gentry's private notes in this chart. I took this off Gentry's desk before I left." She said bleakly, "They have been doing ECT on Bobby without any sedation. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She put her hands to her mouth in horror and began crying in earnest.
Max jumped up and began pacing the room again rage intensifying with every step. She picked up a phone and stabbed in a number. "Bling found Logan... he's alive...be here in an hour and bring weapons."