Sorry it's taken me sooooo long to post these remaining chapters, but personal issues and the fact that I'd written myself into a bit of a corner for a while are the main contributing factors.

I'm still not 100 happy with the final result and may take a chapter away every so often for a re-write. But it'smine, so I can. xx

Chapter 12

Despite the gravity of their predicament and the bleakness of their surroundings, with little else to do Claire and Bobby had dozed fitfully during their long hours of incarceration, huddled together in an attempt to fend off the clammy chill that seeped through their layers of clothing and into their bones.

Claire had no concept of just how much time elapsed before someone finally came for them, and she steeled herself for the worst as the large iron bolt on the outside of their cell door was drawn back with a scraping of rusty metal over wood. Beside her Bobby jerked awake at the noise, and she heard him curse softly as the sudden exertion cause pain to erupt in his injured shoulder.

Almost as soon as the heavy door creaked open, the glare of a torch pierced the gloom, darting across the ceiling and around the walls before settling on the bedraggled pair, instinctively trying to shield their eyes from the stabbing beam of light. There followed a low murmuring of voices and amid them one very familiar one. Eberts!

"Claire, Robert! Thank god " The relief in his voice was unmistakable. "Are you both okay?"

"We will be when you stop tryin' to freakin' blind us," Bobby grouched, squinting through his fingers for emphasis.

"Oops, oh yes, sorry," he responded sheepishly, immediately directing the light somewhere above their heads instead.

Even before his vision had cleared completely, Bobby was aware that a taller, stockier figure had entered into the cell behind Eberts, and moments later he was being pulled to his feet by a strong pair of hands.

"We'd given you both up for dead somewhere in the forest," Mikhail Tzarnov marveled.

"It was only on Albert's insistence that we came down here to search." He reached across and slapped his new friend affectionately on the back.

"Thank you, Albert," Claire planted a kiss on his cheek as he helped her up.

"How long have we been cooped up down here?" Bobby asked as they followed Tzarnov outside.

"It's been a little over six hours," the man advised soberly. "We heard the shots, but by the time we got there it was all over. We found Rudy though …" his voice trailed off regretfully.

Claire laid a hand on his arm.

"He's alive…just," Mikhail reassured, his dark eyes welcoming her show of concern.

"But we think his skull may have been fractured. Those bastards will pay for it."

"Speaking of which…" Bobby pressed, keen to get back on his partner's trail before it went cold The culmination of the pulsating pain in his shoulder and the sheer frustration of having located Darien only to lose him again, all in the matter of a few hours, weighed heavily on him.

"They're long gone." Eberts advised, casting a worried look back at his two colleagues.


Perched on the edge of an examination table in one of the Institute's remaining functional laboratories, Bobby fidgeted impatiently while Claire cleaned and treated his shoulder wound. His inability to sit still for 'five bloody minutes' had earned him several reprimands, and even a barbed threat to sedate him.

"C'mon, Keepie, hurry it up there will ya," he half-teased through gritted teeth as she firmly applied the bandage "Anyone would think you've never treated a bullet wound before."

He regretted the words the second she fixed him with a pissed off Keepie glare. "Well between you and Darien and your alarming penchant for trouble, I certainly get enough practice," she countered, pressing the last piece of tape in place with a sickly-sweet smile - and to his mind a little more pressure than was absolutely necessary. "There. All done."

Claire helped Bobby to ease back into his torn and bloodied sweater, and then thrust a couple of painkillers into one hand and a glass of water into the other. He swallowed them down without complaint, offering a 'thank you' before crossing to where Eberts was on the phone updating the Official, and Tzarnov was issuing orders to half a dozen uniformed LMI agents; part of the larger team now occupying the Institute.

Within two hours of them stumbling across the macabre scene in the forest clearing and transferring the badly injured Rudy to a doctor in the village, Tzarnov had secured permission and the manpower from his superiors to mount a full-scale raid on the castle. That they had agreed so readily was testament to the trust they placed in him and his group.

Mikhail led the first team - consisting of him, Eberts and four LMI operatives - in through the main entrance of the Institute, with Teams 2 and 3 following in their wake to be quickly deployed throughout the facility. Lili took command of Team 4, covering off the underground tunnel. The scene awaiting them all inside the castle came as a complete shock. The place was in turmoil, with sirens blaring and a thick choking smoke obscuring vision and making breathing difficult. They met no resistance from the few shocked and terrified members of staff they encountered, who were in the process of evacuating themselves and the patients.

It quickly became obvious that Arnaud De Fehrn, Ella Craven and several of the senior personnel had made good their escape in a rush, but with precision planning nonetheless, taking with them much of the evidence of their covert research. computer files had been erased and what hard evidence couldn't be carried with them had been destroyed, with several of the labs completely decimated by the incendiary devices that in turn had ignited the small fires, which were now thankfully under control. It was just so typical of De Freak, Bobby mused bitterly.

As soon as Tzarnov had finished with the LMI operatives and dismissed them, he turned to Bobby and Claire. Eberts ended his call to the Official and joined them also.

"We've questioned all of the remaining members of senior staff and we may have a lead on where they've gone." He handed Bobby a copy of the national daily newspaper, with its front page dominated by photographs of the three main contenders in the forthcoming Presidential election.

One Bobby recognized immediately as Theodore Tomaszko; the middle was of the current President of the Latovanian Republic; Yuri Danzic, a man who had unprecedented popularity with his citizens and was the favorite to win by a wide margin. The third was of the leader of the main opposition party, Boris Gregoravich.

Bobby continued to stare at the newspaper almost as if the words would miraculously morph from Latovanian to English, until Tzarnov jabbed a finger at the column of writing on the bottom of the page.

"Tonight in Grudsk our current President, Yuri Danzic, is scheduled to officiate at the opening of the new National Exhibition and Convention Center. He's also using the venue to host a reception ahead of the election in two days time. A lot of high level politicians - including some of our foreign allies and the media - are expected to attend.

"We may be a small country in comparison to your United States, but we do have strategic importance in the Balkans," he explained proudly. "Danzic, has proved himself to be a good friend to the West and, more importantly, has the respect of our close neighbors and is trusted enough to represent them in the foreign arena."

"You sound like a big fan of his," Claire said with a soft smile lighting her lovely eyes.

"I would die for him," Mikhail responded returning her smile and drawing himself up proudly. "Without Yuri Danzic it's very possible that my country would revert back to the dark days before liberation, the entire region would become unstable."

He had Bobby's full attention now, although he wasn't sure he liked where this was leading. "So, you think ole Tabasco's planning a hit on your President?"

Mikhail nodded soberly. "Yes. But he won't dirty his own hands." He stared from one to the other of them curiously now. "What I don't understand though, and what I'm absolutely certain you're not going to tell me, is what part your young friend is going to play in all of this?"