Chapter 9

"Funny how just when you think life can't possibly get any worse it suddenly does."
-- Douglas Noel Adams (b. 1952), British author, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

When Claire first heard that it was the Redman's house that exploded, she nearly fainted. Darien and Bobby were supposed to be at that meeting and if Darien had not taken off, they would have been caught in the explosion. All things happen for a reason she quickly thought to herself.

The first ambulance arrived and she opened up the back door. Stu jumped out and helped with Frannie who was on a stretcher. "Let's get her inside quickly!" Claire said as she ran along side Frannie.

"Is she gonna be alright and the baby…is the baby gonna be alright?" Stu said as frantically as anyone would be in this situation.

"We're going to do our best, Stu." Claire said.

Stu looked at Claire, "That's not good enough, Claire."

Two volunteers came out and took the stretcher into the ER trauma room. Claire stopped Stu, "I'm sorry, but that's all I can give you right now. You have to stay here. I'll let you know as soon as I can." Claire said giving Stu a reassuring smile.

Stu paced back and forth until Larry, Glen, and Ralph joined him. "How is she?" Glen asked.

"Don't know yet. How are you guys?"

"Well, I'm fine except for a few minor cuts…I landed in the flower bed." Larry said slightly embarrassed. "And except for the punch to the jaw compliments of you, I'm fine."

Stu looked at Larry, "I'm sorry about that, Larry. I was scared."

"Its okay, Stu, I owe you one." Larry said with a smile.

Dr. Richardson worked on Frannie and Claire helped with Mother Abigail. There were twenty others that had been wounded and one of them may not make it through the night. Two members of the Committee, Nick and Sue had been killed along with five others.

Volunteers streamed in to help out and this was probably the busiest the hospital was since the flu broke out. People also came in to donate blood, to lend support to the victim's families and cook meals for the families, friends and rescue workers. Claire was amazed at how the town had come together to lend a helping hand. It always seemed to take a disaster to get people to come together.

By morning, Claire was exhausted but she wanted to check on Frannie before going to lie down. Mother Abigail had been put in the same room with Frannie. She walked in and saw Stu sitting by her side. Larry, Lucy, Ralph, Glen and a few others were present in the room holding a bedside vigil for the two women.

"Dr. Keeply, you look tired, why don't you go lie down." Glen said.

"I wanted to check on Frannie and Mother Abigail first," Claire said as she checked the latest entries in the charts.

"With all the excitement I didn't notice if Bobby or Darien came back, did they?" Ralph asked.

Claire looked at Stu and looked down. Frannie at that moment decided to wake up. She knew that Nick had died and was concerned about the baby. Dr. Richardson had said that the baby was fine. Frannie looked over at Mother Abigail and told Stu that she had had another dream.

Mother Abigail started to mumble and told those that are not on the Committee to leave, but Lucy and Claire could stay. They waited for the room to clear out and Mother Abigail spoke saying that the four remaining men had to go to and make their stand against Flagg, but that one would fall by the way side. She said that she didn't know which one would fall. Frannie didn't like it and she argued her case but the decision had been made, Stu, Larry, Ralph and Glen were to go to Las Vegas. They were to confront not a man but a creature that had existed since the beginning.

Claire waited to hear what Mother Abigail had to say about Bobby and Darien. Mother Abigail looked at Claire, "You're with child too."

Claire touched her belly, she didn't know for sure yet and she wasn't going to tell Bobby until later. The others looked at Claire and smiled.

"By noon, Bobby and Darien will be taken. That's all I'm in the way of knowing." Mother Abigail said weakly, "They will stand against Flagg in the way that has been predestined."

Claire covered her mouth with her hand, "No…oh please no." Larry came over and hugged her.

"They went out to confront Flagg without us knowing?" Glen said.

"I knew, I didn't want to say anything. It was Darien's choice. Bobby went after him to bring him back. I was hoping that they would have come back safely." Stu added.

"Well, nothing we can do about that now," Glen said. Stu knew when Glen was upset and this was one of those times.

Mother Abigail continued, "You four men are to leave this morning, carry nothing with you, leave with the clothes that are on your backs. Go and stand." Mother Abigail took her last breath.

Darien traveled south on I-15 and off in the distance he saw a group of cars, "Great, another pile up."

Paul Burlson called attention to the men who were at the road block, "Okay, this may be the one. Remember, Flagg wants him alive and unharmed." The men pulled out their rifles and got in position.

Darien saw the movement in front of the cars. He was close enough to see rifles in their hands and there were about six men. Darien put on the brakes and the bike skidded sideways a few feet. He sat there with the bike in idle, looked at the men and the surroundings. 'Open area on either side…easy enough', he thought to himself. Darien straightened himself up on the bike and heard a voice on a bullhorn.

"Get off the bike…walk away from it with your hands up in the air!"

Darien smiled, "Ha, haven't heard that one in a while," he tightened the black leather gloves he was wearing and gripped the bars, "Okay boys, lets see what you got."

Burlson motioned to his men, "He's gonna run!"

Darien poured on the gas and the bike took off with a loud screeching sound. Smoke started to bellow from the tires burning rubber on the road. The men raised their guns at Darien and Burlson yelled, "Shoot the tires!"

Darien leaned his body down to gain speed. He came closer to the men and he kicked the gland in motion. Quicksilver poured over him and the bike turning them to a metallic color then disappearing all together.

The men including Burlson lowered their guns in shock. "What the hell was that?" Burlson yelled out. They could hear the motorcycle but they couldn't see it. The men looked around frantically as the sound drew near. Then dirt on the left side of them kicked up as the sound traveled in that direction. All they could do was watch as the dirt settled and the sound of the motorcycle grew faint.

Darien peeked behind him and saw the men just standing there with the rifles hanging at their sides. He laughed and saw the sign for the town of Arrowhead, Nevada. He was now an hour away from Las Vegas.

A group of people stood on the out skirts of the Boulder city limits. The smoke from the house can still be seen. It started there and will end in Las Vegas. Stu and Frannie hugged "Promise me you'll come back," Frannie said though tears.

"I promise I will try," Stu said.

"Not good enough," Frannie pounded her fists on Stu's chest. He held her tight.

They all stared west for a moment. Knowing what was out there, what was waiting for them. The four men and Kojak got into one car and drove off, leaving Lucy, Joe, Frannie, Claire and Dr. Richardson watching them as they drove away.

Larry was in the back seat and he looked out the back window. He kept his eye on Lucy and Joe until they were out of sight.

Lloyd was angry that the first road block failed in capturing Darien Fawkes. But the anger he felt was nothing compared to how Flagg was going to react. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Flagg opened the door and greeted Lloyd, "Hi Lloyd, so tell me, how did it go?"

Lloyd looked down at his feet, "The road block failed. I'm sorry, we'll get him at the next one."

"No worries, Lloyd. That's why I told you to put up two road blocks. I knew he might run the first one." He smiled, "Did those guys up in Arrowhead say that the suspect seemed to disappear into thin air…POOF!!" Flagg waved his hands like he had just performed a magic trick.

"Yeah, kind of strange, huh?" Lloyd said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Not strange, but true. That's why I want him Lloyd. He's magic." Flagg patted Lloyd on his back, "Don't worry, Lloyd, he won't get by the next one. I'll make sure of that." Lloyd left the suite and Flagg had to get himself ready to meet his bride. He knew that Nadine was on her way and there was the issue of the third spy.

The Judge was killed and Dayna had committed suicide but what angered him the most was Dayna knew who the third spy was. Why couldn't he see, he had a third eye for this short of thing but this spy eluded his vision. Why did he feel like things were falling apart? The old woman was dead, that should make him happy but what had she told the remaining members of the committee before she died? He saw her die, saw the group around her, but what had she said to them?

Flagg's only chance at regaining control of the situation was to get Fawkes on his side. He would have Lloyd, Trash and Fawkes…his three unholy servants.

Darien knew that they would try again and since traffic was minimal if not at all, he remained invisible. Only the sound of the bike was the dead give away and there was nothing he could do about that except walk to Las Vegas and he was now a good thirty minutes away.

Darien was approaching Apex, another small town off I-15 and he saw another road block. He didn't stop but kept his speed. He noted two cars and three pick-up trucks. One of the pick-ups had a rather large cage in the cargo area. Darien smirked, "Aw how nice, must be for me."

Barry Dorgan and the others could hear the motorcycle but they could not see it, "This must be what Burlson was talking about. I wouldn't have believed him." He turned to him men, "Okay, get ready!"

A man hopped in the driver seat of the two cars and the two trucks. The one with the cage was in the middle of the road. Darien eyed the movement and what they were up to. He veered off to his right again. Dirt and grass kicked up behind him giving away his path.

Dorgan was ready, "NOW!!"

The two cars and trucks formed a long line stretching out onto the shoulder of the road and into the grass. "Oh crap!" Darien said in disbelief as the pick-up truck pushed him further then he expected. He lost control of the bike and crashed. Darien rolled a few yards in the rocks and grass until he came to a stop. The quicksilver flaked off the bike first and then him. The next thing he knew, he was looking into the barrels of six rifles.

"My name is Barry Dorgan," he said, "Darien Fawkes, by the virtue of the power invested in me; I place you under arrest and order you to come with me."

"Yeah, I figured that much," Darien said achingly.

"What are you?" Dorgan asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be reading my rights?" Darien tried to move, but his body ached. He saw the look on Dorgan's face, "Guess not…I had a bio-synthetic implanted in my brain that makes me go invisible. I worked for the government."

"A lot of good the government did for us," someone spoke up from within the group.

"Yeah well, I never said I liked it."

"We caught the invisible man, we're gonna be famous," Another voice was heard from the group.

Darien was roughly hauled off the ground, "Oowww!! Hey, police brutality!" Darien was promptly hit in the stomach with the butt of a rifle. He collapsed on the ground gasping for air.

Dorgan pushed a black man nick-named Rat-Man who hit Darien in the stomach, "Don't be an ass! Flagg wants him brought in unharmed."

Darien coughed, "I think…you're a little…late…Dorky." Darien was pulled back up again to stand on his feet. There was a nice scrape on Darien's cheek from his roll in the grass and rocks.

"Dorgan," Barry said correctly pronouncing his name.

Darien looked at him and sneered, "Whatever."

The two men holding Darien pushed him up against the hood of the car and his arms were stretched out. "Okay, this I know," Darien joked as he was searched, "Whoa…easy there, that's not a gun, okay."

Dorgan with an irritated look on his face said to Darien, "You're a real smartass aren't you? I've dealt with your kind before as Chief of the Santa Monica Police Department."

Darien shook his head slightly, "No, don't think I've ever been arrested there."

"Cuff him and put him in the cage." Dorgan had enough of Darien.

"I want his jacket, shame to waste it on a dead white man…" Rat-Man looked at Dorgan.

Dorgan nodded. Rat-Man leaned up against Darien and breathed in his ear as he took off Darien's leather jacket, "Flagg gonna hang you up…won't be needing this no more." The jacket came off with the gloves, "Guess I'll treat myself to these too."

The cuffs were forcibly put on Darien and tightened. He winced at the way the cold metal cut into his skin. Darien was pushed over to the pick-up truck with the cage and the door was opened. 'I've gone from 'receptacle' to animal,' he thought to himself as he was manhandled into the cage.

Darien sat towards the back of the cage and kept his eye on the caravan of cars and trucks behind him. They had put his banged up motorcycle in the lead truck and he figured that he and the bike were going to be on public display through the city. "There going to make an example of me," he bowed his head and for the first time in years, he prayed.

On the approach to the city, Darien saw the crosses that lined the highway. "My God, he really is crucifying people." Darien understood Rat-Man's words now when he said that Flagg was going to hang Darien. His stomach turned and his throat went dry.

Darien could hear the crowd as they approached. He knew that Dorgan and Rat-Man were having the time of their lives in the lead truck, waving their guns in the air and showing off the dead motorcycle like it had been a buck they hunted. Some of the guys in the other cars got out to walk along the side of the street. Darien chuckled, "Crowd control a la Flagg."

The people started throwing stuff at the cage, bottles, food, garbage…what ever they could get their hands on. Darien let the quicksilver flow to break the cuffs so he could free his hands to cover his face.

The guards walking along the street were just for show, they didn't keep anybody back. Some people rushed the cage, banging on it and shouting obscenities. Darien couldn't make out what everyone was saying, they were all shouting at once. He looked up and looked into the face of a teenager.

"Die you dirty spy!" the kid shouted at Darien. Behind the kid was a group of people standing under a newly constructed cross and they were pointing to Darien then to the cross.

Darien's heart sank and unconsciously he mumbled, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."

Standing on the corner watching the festivities was Tom. He had seen Dayna a few days ago but he hadn't seen her since. Tom was there because it was announced that a spy had been caught and everyone was ordered onto the streets. Normally, Tom liked parades but this was not fun, at least to him. Everyone else was in a party mood. Tom watched as the first pick-up truck went by with the damaged motorcycle. His stomach did flips, he recognized the bike.

Tom watched as some people rushed the cage that was in the following truck. Some where shouting and some were throwing stuff at it. He saw a man sitting with his hands to his face and when someone yelled for the spy to die, he saw the face of his friend, Darien. "Oh no," Tom quietly said to himself and he turned his face away, "Why him?" Tom got on his bike and rode away without anyone seeing him. He wanted to go somewhere and cry. The shouts of the crowd got louder until it sounded like thunder in Tom's ears. He rode hard trying to escape the thunder but it seemed to follow him.

Tom made it to his apartment and he started packing his things as tears streamed down his face, "I could never find him, it's not fair. Why did they have to find him?"

Darien didn't see Tom and it was just as well. He may have given Tom away. The ride through Las Vegas to Clark County Jail had been long and harsh. Darien was relieved when they finally went to the prisoner unloading area.

Dorgan opened up the cage door, "Now that was fun wasn't…." he noticed that the cuffs had been broken, "How did you do that?"

"Another trick I do." Darien was escorted into the main building.