Chapter 51! Wow. I'm really sorry to say, but the next chapter will take some time - there is a three month gap I still need to plan and fill so there will be some time invested in that - but I hope the next chapter will be posted in two weeks at most. I can't promise anything though!
But here's chapter 51, and surprisingly with no cliffhanger - I know, I'm nice, sometimes...
One hour later, he hears steps. They are harsher, the person is walking in heels, and after a second, he knows who it is.
"Lestrade!" Donovan calls out, obviously worried and surprised – but not as much as he would have expected.
Lestrade still can't move a muscle, and he knows he is worrying Sally too much, but what can he do? She comes closer and finally, she takes the blindfold off. He blinks once to adjust to the sudden light of her flashlight, as it is dark by now, and notices that the only thing he can move are his eyes.
"Are you okay?" He can't even swallow to try to communicate with her, but she does the right thing anyway. Calling an ambulance, she looks in his eyes and finally seems to realise that he is alert. She grips his chin and holds his head so he can look her in the eye properly and smiles briefly.
"If you are okay, blink once. If not, twice. If you can't blink, roll your eyes," the detective blinks once and Sally smiles again. Soon after, the paramedics come, and only now Greg feels his exhaustion. The last thing he sees while he is being out on the stretcher is the sign which Kiara sprayed above him, and probably the same she drew on his chest. He was right, it is similar to a Roman three, but with two C's in it. Moriarty, Consulting Criminal.
Half an hour later, he is able to move his fingers, then his toes, then his hands. After another fifteen minutes, he is able to move again, even if he does feel a bit stiff.
"Sally? How did you find me?" She is still sitting next to him, in the hospital, even though the doctors said he would be okay and she is supposed to be working.
"It was an anonymous lead – somebody called from a public phone, now we are guessing it was her – and she just gave this address. That was about ninety minutes ago, and we weren't sure whether to go, but then I decided to go, especially because you were missing. The Chief Superintendent was livid, you know that?" Lestrade can't help but smile back at the idea of annoying the man, even though an uncomfortable thought comes to his head.
"It was simply a power-play. She just wanted to show me...!" he whispers, but Sally hears. At her questioning eyebrow, he sighs.
"Kiara Johnson is Kiara Moriarty. Yes, daughter of Jim Moriarty. Anyway, she managed to escape somehow, and I followed her, until she surprised me. She had me completely under her control, you saw how strong that paralyser was, and she had a gun. But she chose to leave me there and make completely sure that I would be found, she even told me so, just to show me what she could do, probably. The only thing she wanted to know is something – something about him. Did you find anything in her cell?" Sally, to give her credit, doesn't smile or laugh about what happened. Instead she frowns.
"Yes, actually. About ten minutes after she must have escaped, the older Holmes appeared – had heard about it somehow and wanted to take her with him, probably for questioning. In there was a note, with Bit too late, my dear written on it. Holmes didn't tell us what it meant, but he looked annoyed..."
"I bet he would be. What was that sign, on the wall?" Sally just shrugs, Lestrade is sure it means something. Something important, he can feel it.
"She said, before she drugged me and left, that it would safe my life..."
"No idea, I mean I think I have seen it before once or twice, but I really don't know,"
Greg knows it's not right, but he wants to meet Kiara again. Not in the same circumstances, but he wants to ask her what the sign means and why she said it would safe his life.
Kiara's POV:
"Was that really necessary?" Mycroft looks a bit annoyed, but luckily not angry, about my adventure at the Yard.
"Why didn't you wait until I got you out?"
I realise that I could have done so – I could have waited for Mycroft to come with some excuse about higher clearance rubbish and then I'd be home with no trouble. But this was a lot more fun, and it wasn't the only advantage.
"DI Lestrade interviewed me. He recognized me. Should I have waited until he told everyone who I really am?" I don't tell him that in reality I simply wanted to talk to the DI, but under my conditions. There was no way to talk with him about Sherlock in Scotland Yard, with the microphones and the cameras, so I had to lure him out.
"He hadn't told anyone then, had he? Now he has even more reason to do so." He is right in some points, but I'm not going to tell him about my little chat with Lestrade.
"He has exactly the same reasons – why should he in any way protect my identity? For him I am just the mental daughter of the man who forced Sherlock to commit suicide and who killed so many people. There is a way to silence him though." Mycroft looks doubtful, and suddenly I realise how that sounded.
"Silence him as in you, the big scary brother of Sherlock, who works in the government, telling him it's necessary to keep the secret so the common masses wouldn't attack me, the daughter of the evil criminal, as you want to get information from me and because I'm still underage or something, you should be able to make something up. And the other police-officers aren't supposed to know as then the rumour might leak. What do you think?"
Mycroft sighs once and nods.
"How long will the paralyser last?" I don't ask how he knows, but I can guess – the little syringe I always take with me is empty and I want to go and fill it up.
I look at my phone, which Mycroft nicely got back from the Yard when he went to pick me up, and realise Lestrade must be nearly back at full motion control.
"Probably it has just worn off, but the paramedics are likely still checking him over, so he won't be able to leave or tell anyone – but he'll be fine soon, so you should hurry." I smile at him sweetly when he sighs deeply, and pat him on the arm.
"Have fun, My."