Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: None this chapter
Chapter 18
Mark "Red" Miller had himself quite a day.
Hired by Jacques Fournier, he'd attempted to kidnap Ella Roberts and hold her prisoner until Fournier came to collect her. Red of course realized the Frenchman was insane, but that wasn't his concern. He needed to keep his mind on the task at hand. He had no time to wonder what Fournier wanted with the young woman, and he definitely had no time for an attack of conscience. Red was prepared to murder every person in the large mansion if he needed to. He was, after all, one of the best hit men in the country.
So, why am I sitting in a hospital bed, with numerous broken bones and recovering from multiple surgeries? Oh, yeah, he thought sarcastically, because Fournier forgot to mention the girl was a little she-devil! Not to mention her two huge, vicious friends. You ought to know…I add kidnapping to my job description just this ONE time, and I get screwed over. Big time. All for an extra half-million.
He shook his head, and laid it back against the hospital's pitiful excuse for a pillow, closing his eyes to rest. A moment later, his room's door opened and shut.
"Is it time for my pain medicine," he slurred. His eyes remained closed in pain and exhaustion.
"If it was up to us, you'd not get another drop of the stuff," came the gruff reply.
Red's hazel-colored eyes shot open, and he saw the two detectives who arrested him. Both men appeared middle age, like him, but were fairly large and sturdy in build. One had sandy blonde hair, while the other had dark hair with some gray creeping throughout.
Red cursed under his breath, "What do you guys want," he drawled. "I've had surgery. I'm supposed to be resting."
"We don't care if you ever rest again," Detective Yandell growled. "You're going to tell us why you were on the Jarrett's property with a gun—why you tried to kidnap Ella Roberts."
Red had become quite familiar with the 'good cop/bad cop' routine. He wasn't a fool. He would not allow these two clowns to trick him into divulging vital info. Information which could, and would, get him killed.
"Cool it," Red muttered, rolling his eyes. "I know what you two are trying to put over on me. I'll save you the trouble. I was only hunting. I didn't know I was on private property."
"Hunting…with a nine-millimeter," Detective Smith clarified skeptically, lifting an eyebrow and shaking his head. "Come on, man. We weren't born yesterday."
"Why not a nine-millimeter," Red asked, absurdly trying to keep up his facade. "It's easier to carry a handgun around than a rifle."
"Oh, really? And why were you also carrying a pair of handcuffs and a tranquilizer gun full of sodium pentathol," Yandell persisted.
"I…well…I-I-"
"Cut the crap," Smith shouted, as his fist slammed down on the rolling table next to Red's bed. "Do we hear the name Fournier, or do we need to beat it out of you?"
Red began to sweat. This wasn't any 'good cop/bad cop' scheme. He had a sinking feeling these two cops really would beat the information out of him.
"Y-you can't do that," he exclaimed, beginning to worry about being alone in the room with the two cops. Almost like a child, he tugged at the covers on his bed as though he would try to hide under them.
"Try me," Smith retaliated. "You scared Ella to death, as well as frightening what's left of her family. I suggest-"
At that moment, a middle-aged nurse with graying black hair entered the room.
"What in the world is going on here," she demanded. "This man's recovering from surgery. And there are other patients recovering on this hall. You need to calm down or I'll have to send you away."
For just a moment Red smirked, thinking he had an ally.
"Lady, you have no idea what's at stake here," Yandell turned to the nurse and spoke distinctly. "This lowlife may be recovering, but he's in our custody. He was paid to kidnap an eighteen-year-old woman, and possibly kill what's left of her family. She's already been through watching her parents being murdered, right in front of her. The man who wants her will stop at nothing to get her. Now, if you think you can make us leave before we get the information we need…well, you do what you think you need to, but we're not leaving. That, I can promise you."
The nurse looked over at Red, trying unsuccessfully to hide the contempt and disgust on her face. "I-I'm sorry," she said quietly, her gaze moving back to the detectives. "I heard about that on the news. Do what you have to do. Just please keep it down. Just because he has to pay for what he's done, doesn't mean the other patients here should have to pay for it too."
The two cops immediately dropped their suddenly tensed posture.
"Yes, ma'am…Thank you for understanding," Yandell softened his demeanor toward the caretaker.
The nurse nodded. "I have a teenage daughter. I don't know what I'd do if…" she looked past the cops then, and looked Red in the eye. "Sir, have a heart. Tell the cops what they need to know. Don't hurt that girl any further."
With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Smith and Yandell looked over at Red then.
"So are you gonna help us? Are you going to help Ella Roberts?"
Red remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"I…I can—can't. He…He'll get to me. And anything that's done to me in the justice system would pale in comparison to what…to what he'll do to me. Besides…It's not like I know anything that would help much. I don't know where he is or anything."
"Do you know what he wanted with her," Yandell demanded.
"I f-figured…he wanted to ransom her."
Smith scoffed, "Her father tried to save Fournier's wife and unborn child in surgery after a car accident. When he was unable to save them, Fournier decided to repay Dr. Roberts. His repayment was threatening his family. He waited a few years for the Roberts' to drop their guard, and on New Years Eve, he murdered Dr. Roberts' wife in front of him and Ella. He then killed Dr. Roberts in front of his daughter, and almost succeeded in kidnapping her. He planned to force pregnancy on her as retribution to Dr. Roberts' failure. Smith glared at Red for a few long seconds, "Now, tell us what you know."
When Red made no move to talk, Detective Smith smirked at Yandell. "Do you have Joe Seanoa's cell number?"
Red's gaze shot up at the cops. He knew that name. Joe… Joe… Where did I hear that… His eyes lit up with horror when he realized 'Joe' was the name of the huge, dark-skinned man who finished beating him to a pulp. That is, after the girl got through with him. "W-why would you need to call him," he asked, his voice trembling very noticeably.
"Because something tells me, he'd get you to talk," Smith answered.
"Yeah," Yandell spoke up, catching on to his partner's strategy. "Ya know…he's very protective of the girl. I don't think you'd want to piss him off any more than he already is. Trust me. We were trying to help her at the Jarrett's house, and we weren't able to get near her…He made it clear he'd beat us into the ground," he bluffed. "Imagine what he'd do if he came across you again."
Smith nodded in agreement, when he saw the horror dawning on Red's face. "Trying to hurt the woman he loves? Not smart," he clicked his tongue in mock sympathy. "Wouldn't want to be in your shoes."
Red began contemplating what seemed worse; dying by Jacques Fournier's hand, or being bludgeoned by the large fists of Joe Seanoa.
"Oh, here's the number," Yandell said, bringing Red out of his thoughts. He had scrolled through his contacts list on his cell phone. "You want me to call him and have him come up here," he asked Smith.
"No," Red exclaimed. He had no choice but to trust the authorities to protect him. "I'll tell you what I know. It isn't much, but I'll tell you. But I want immunity. And I want protective custody till…un-until-" he stammered around, trying to avoid mentioning Fournier until he knew he had protection in his grasp.
"Yeah, yeah…We know what you're saying," Smith interrupted. He looked over at Yandell then. "Do you want to record his information, or get the request for immunity faxed to the D.A.'s office?"
"I can go get the fax done, and get a couple guards at his door till the request is approved."
"Will it be approved," Red asked, hope in his voice.
"Most cases are if there is good enough cause," Smith replied. "And I'm sure when the D.A. hears the newest details of Ella Roberts' case, then he will find it worthy of you having immunity, and you will be approved." Red nodded, feeling a little better. "I'll be back in a moment," the cop added, "I need to speak with my partner before we start discussing what you know."
With that, Smith stepped outside the door with Yandell and spoke softly.
"This isn't good, is it," he commented. "That man is utterly terrified of Fournier. When we bluffed about Joe, you could literally hear him thinking about which man would be worse to face. I thought he would have a heart attack."
Yandell nodded. "Yeah, I know. He couldn't even bring himself to say Fournier's name. If you didn't keep in mind he'd helped to terrorize the poor girl even further, you could almost feel sorry for him."
"Well, don't. He had to know what he was getting himself into by working for that monster." Smith exhaled sharply, and continued with his thoughts. "My point is, for Miller to be so petrified…I know Fournier's not going to bite the bullet on this. He's not done. He's going to keep going till he gets to Ella," he ran his hand through his slightly thinning dark hair. "And she knows it."
"You think she's going to run?"
Smith shrugged. "I don't know for sure. But I do remember when we first interviewed her…she wanted to go into protective custody right then and there. No one does that—not voluntarily. People—especially young ones—want to stay with their families. Or at least be near them. But, she knows her family and loved ones are in danger as well. I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to."
"We need to drop by or call the Jarrett's and warn them," Yandell said. "Though I'm sure they've thought of it."
The other detective nodded, and then snapped back into cop mode. "Well, I better get back inside and get his information. You go on and get your work done, then we'll call and let Jeff know about the break in the case."
With that, Yandell walked briskly down the hall, and Smith reentered Red's room, preparing to make records of what few tips Red could give.
}i{}i{}i{}i{
Saturday at dawn, while the house was still and quiet, Jeff got up, showered, and dressed all in record time. He planned to look in on Ella, and then go out and buy breakfast for everyone. Nina had buzzed around all day the day before, cooking and cleaning. She could not seem to make herself sit still. Jeff thought she needed to slow down, and figured buying breakfast would at least take one thing off her busy agenda. After pulling on some shoes, he walked down the hall and quietly opened the door to Ella's room, peeking in to see if everything seemed all right.
He found Ella lying in nearly the same position on her back as she had the day before when she was first placed in the bed. Clearly, she was still out cold.
Good Lord, he thought worriedly, it's already been twenty-two hours.
He knew Doctor Hollister had said she might sleep well over twenty-four hours before she would wake up, but he'd really hoped it would not be quite so long. He noticed the large Samoan in bed beside his niece then.
Joe lay on his side, facing Ella. His arm draped tenderly around her waist and his face snuggled into her neck while his lips touched the delicate skin in a soft caress.
"Oh, how sweet," came Nina's soft whisper over Jeff's shoulder.
He turned to his wife and saw tears filling her brown eyes, as she watched Joe hold Ella so protectively.
"He really does love her, doesn't he," she asked softly, swiping at a tear that spilled onto her cheek.
Jeff nodded and kissed her temple. "Yes, he does. I think they'll be married pretty soon," he chuckled, remembering their conversation from the previous day. "You should be sleeping. You need the rest."
Nina smiled softly. "I'm fine. I think I'll go fix break-"
"Oh, no you don't," Jeff countered. "I was just checking on Ella, and now I'm about to head out and buy breakfast."
"No… I can-"
Jeff interrupted her. "No arguments, woman. I need to get some air anyway. Let me help in at least a small way."
Nina smiled and kissed his mouth. "Okay, okay. Go get breakfast."
Jeff smiled back and returned her kiss. "All right. I'll probably get something like donuts so there's no need to reheat the food. I figure everyone will sleep late anyway."
They looked over at the sleeping couple again when they heard Ella's pained whimper. Her hand twitched by her face and then tensed into a fist.
"Joe…" she sobbed restlessly in her sleep. "No…not Joe…"
Jeff instinctively started to enter the room, intending to comfort Ella, but Nina stopped him and pointed. They watched as Joe came slightly awake, and immediately pulled Ella closer against his large frame.
"I'm here, honey. Everything's fine," he whispered into her hair.
However, she continued to twitch in her sleep and cry for Joe. Both the Jarretts could see the mixture of fear and frustration cross his features.
"Ella, sweetheart… You've got to fight this. For Jeff and Nina, for your cousins, and…for me." He dipped his head down and brushed his lips across her forehead. "I love you so much. You have to fight. Don't make me watch your spirit die."
She sighed softly, and seemed to settle back into her sleep. And only after Joe saw she was fully asleep again, did he let himself finally drift off as well.
Jeff motioned to Nina that they should go downstairs and let them get their rest. Then a short while later, he headed out of the house to get breakfast.
}i{}i{}i{}i{
Jeff's cell phone rang on his way back home after picking up some donuts and danishes from Dunkin' Donuts. He quickly grabbed his cell phone and pressed the 'Talk' button.
"Hello," he answered.
"Mr. Jarrett," came the reply. "This is Detective Smith. I wanted to inform you of the little break in your niece's case."
Jeff nearly slammed the breaks at the news. Luckily, he caught himself, and instead pulled over into a grocery store parking lot.
"What's happened?"
"Red Miller, admitted to taking a job from Jacques Fournier, to kidnap Ella and take her to him. Miller is normally a hit man, but had accepted the kidnapping job for an extra five hundred thousand dollars. He was ordered to kill anyone who tried to stop him, but to do no harm to Ella."
Jeff scoffed bitterly. "No, of course not. That would be Fournier's job."
"Miller couldn't tell us where Fournier is. The guy's scared to death of him. We tried to bluff him into thinking we would get Joe up here to beat the info out of him. And he really didn't know which way to go at first. He finally caved, and began talking in exchange for immunity, and for protective custody."
"But he couldn't tell you where Fournier is," Jeff asked, frustration evident in his voice.
"No. Fournier had wired the payment to Red's Swiss bank account. We had our experts tap into Red's account and ping the computer used to wire the money so we could get its IP address. We'd hoped to use the IP to get the computer's location, but it only brought back a fake one. Fournier is either good with computers, or has someone working for him who is." The detective paused for a moment, "There's more also. Red Miller will not be prosecuted for his involvement. He will be in protective custody until we can catch Fournier, so Red can testify against him."
"He won't be prosecuted," Jeff demanded, "What are you talking about? He tried to kidnap my niece! He would have killed us all!"
"He asked for immunity and protection," Smith replied calmly. "And I don't like it any more than you do. But it's the only way we could possibly get a lead on Fournier."
Jeff cursed, making his feelings loud and clear.
"I'm sorry to bring the bad news, but I know you'd want to know what's going on. And we're of course going to keep working the case. Fournier will mess up somewhere. Anyway, I'm leaving it up to you whether you tell Ella or not. I don't know what the right thing to do is. I do feel like she's gonna try to run if she knows. She wants to protect all of you."
"I know. But, thanks for telling me. It's definitely not the best news in the world, but I needed to know."
"You're welcome. I just wish I had better news for you."
The two men disconnected the calls then, and Jeff drove the rest of the way home, feeling defeated. And he had no idea whether he should tell Ella or not. He was afraid it would send her over the edge.
}i{}i{}i{}i{
Nina paced in the laundry room, just across from the Jarrett's large kitchen. She had simply stood, for several minutes, staring at nothing in particular. She kept trying to stay busy to keep herself from thinking about the chaos in her family's lives, but her mind kept wandering back to Ella. She could not stop herself from going over so many horrible scenarios of how the whole ordeal could end.
God, please help me to know what I can do to help our situation, she prayed. But help me to let go and let You handle it if that's Your will. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost my family.
Suddenly, from the kitchen, she heard the refrigerator door open and close; jarring her from her prayers and thoughts.
"Jeff," she called, thinking her husband had returned home with food. She began mechanically loading the laundry into the black, industrial-sized washing machine. "Is that you?"
"Sorry, Nina," Joe's voice called back to her, along with the sound of ice tinkling against glass. "It's just me. I wanted some orange juice." He came to the doorway of the laundry room then. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh, you didn't, hon," Nina replied. She gestured to his glass of orange juice. "I would fix you some breakfast to go with that, but Jeff went out to buy breakfast. He wouldn't even let me think about pre-heating the oven," she chuckled.
Joe could see the woman was hanging on to her last shred of control. The laugh was forced and her eyes just did not reflect the cheerfulness she was trying to show. But for her sake, he flashed her a smile. "Well, he's right. You've kept yourself so busy, you need to take it easy for a while."
"I know, I know," Nina groaned. "But staying busy helps me. I think too much if I'm just sitting around."
"Is there anything I can do to help," Joe asked, taking a long gulp of orange juice, and eyeing the large pile of laundry.
"Well, if you wouldn't mind bringing down any laundry from Ella's room. I think I got all the laundry out of the other rooms. Then you can go lay back down and get some more sleep," she finished, noticing the bags under his eyes. "You look exhausted."
Joe shrugged, "I'll bring the laundry down to you, but I'm not sleepy."
"Well then, humor me," she requested, with a small smile. "Or, tell yourself you're just going back up there to stay with Ella. Either way, you need some rest. You'll have to go back to work at some point you know, and you will need to be rested."
"Man, you're good," Joe joked as he turned to leave the laundry room.
"I'm a wife and mother of two," Nina chuckled. "I've learned how to get my way."
Joe laughed, and then he headed through the large living room, to the foyer and up the staircase. Seconds later, he entered Ella's room, and glanced at her. Relief flowed through him when he saw that she appeared to be resting peacefully. For the past many hours, she had slept, but not tranquilly. She had twitched, and jolted all through the night, till dawn. But now, she lay on her side, her hand cradling her face. Her breathing was slow and even.
Maybe she's past her nightmares, he thought hopefully as he walked over to the white, wicker laundry hamper. But he realized it would probably take a little longer for the horrible dreams to dissipate for good. Maybe they'll at least grow fewer and farther between.
Joe grabbed the small pile of laundry out of her basket, and froze when he saw a small, folded greeting card fall out of Ella's jeans pocket, to the bottom of the hamper. Curious, he bent down and retrieved it, immediately unfolding the card.
In the next moment, he had read the two threatening sentences. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth. His first instinct was to swear, but he didn't want to risk disturbing Ella. He looked over at her, deep in thought.
Where did she find this? How did Fournier get it to her? And how long has she had it? Joe figured the man in the woods had somehow planted the note for Ella to find—which still made no sense. If Fournier used the guy to get the note to Ella, why didn't he just have him grab her right then, instead of bothering with the note in the first place? It was as if the psychopath was playing games, deliberately toying with Ella and her frame of mind. The sick psychopath, Joe thought, his temper flashing.
He knew he needed to calm down. His vision was bursting with hazes of red. It did not help that he knew Ella had possibly hidden the note intentionally, so she could have an opportunity to run. Especially, since she knew her family would not let her out of their sight.
But he also realized she simply might've not had the opportunity to mention it, what with all the chaos going on. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, Joe headed back downstairs with her laundry, and with the note clenched tightly in his fist.
He was going to show it to Jeff and Nina, whether Ella wanted him to or not.
