Chapter 9,
Fiona came awake hearing muffled voices talking quietly. Her eyes shot open. She remembered. She had been attacked. Dragged away from just outside her home. Sitting up she hissed as her head spun. She was on a bed under a duvet. A quick look belayed her fears, all her clothing was still in place. Trying to be as quiet as she could she went to the door. She could hear the voices clearly now and when she tried the door it opened. She was in a small apartment, from the sounds coming from outside close to the sea.
"What the hell!" She shouted. She recognised her kidnappers, she was furious. "Toby, bloody, Mulligan. What have you done?" The was an ornament on a side board next to where she stood. It was soon flying through the air at the object of her rage. The man in question ducked, the two men he had been talking to dodged out of the way.
"Didn't I tell ya she was a firecracker?" Toby Mulligan laughed. He was a smallish brown haired man in his mid forties. He had a smiling face and sparkling blue eyes. His Belfast brogue sounded so familiar to her ears.
"Tell me you've not been blowing up my stock Toby or so help me I'll-" As she ranted he had come across the room and shut her up by planting a big kiss onto her mouth. She struggled and broke free.
"It's been four and a half years Toby, I've moved on." She push him away hard enough to make him stagger. She wiped her hand across her mouth.
"You think I'd forget darlin girl. I go to work, and when I get back all your stuff is gone and nobody can tell me where." He turned to the other men. "Boys give me a while with Fi, and I'll get back to you soon."
After the men had gone. The door locked behind them. Toby went into the kitchen and started to make a pot of tea. Fiona watched as he spooned loose leaf tea into the teapot and then added the boiling water. She found her handbag lying on a sofa and searched through noticing her cell phone and handgun were both missing.
"Sorry love." He said as he got out a couple of mugs. "Me and you need to talk." He added sugar and milk to the mugs then found his tea strainer. "I've decided to move my business down here." He poured the tea and brought the mugs through to the lounge. They sat facing each other across a coffee table. "And it's always best to talk without guns don't you think." He smiled at her, she had loved that smile once.
"Toby, you cannot be serious, you ruin my business, kidnap me and then just want to have what a chat and a cup of tea." Her voice had got louder and shriller as she spoke.
"Hush, girl." He told her off. "I'll refund your stock, I just wanted to talk that's all."
"You've not heard about phones." She was becoming more angry. Had she really let him talk to her like this all those years ago?
"I've heard a lot things about you Fiona Glenanne." He took a sip of his tea. "You ran off to be with," he hesitated for a moment. "that American spy used to call himself McBride. Did you know dear girl that's what has been keeping you safe? O'Neill was an object lesson to anyone who wanted to harm you." he noticed her expression. "Oh don't look at me like that. I know how tough you are, we were together for what three years. But." He raised a finger pointing it at her. "But, the are a lot of folks who don't, they think McBride or Westen was your muscle and his gone now isn't he? Killed nearly two months ago I believe."
"What has that got to do with what you're doing?" She snapped.
"Well if he was alive would you be sitting here now. Having to listen to my proposal, or would me and my men just be bodies in the morgue? It's what I'm saying to yer Fi you can't do this without good muscle. I want to get back into business with yer."
"I don't need help Toby, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."
"Really." He had her own gun in his hand's seemingly admiring it. But she was not fooled."Because it looks to me like you do."
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Michael was woken by his new cell phone going off. He grabbed at it, checking the caller id. He wasn't surprised that it said Private.
"Hello." He sat up, rubbing his eyes with his spare hand.
"One hour Mr Westen you will be picked up. We have a watching job for you. It's at a hotel." The line went dead before he could speak. He got up and spent the next hour getting ready. He hoped they planned on giving him more information than a watching job. He had to take a guess at what sort of hotel and had taken a chance that it was going to be more business than holiday. Exactly an hour after the call he heard a car pull up outside. A plain beige four door sedan, with just a driver. He got in the back and his cell phone rung again.
"Give the driver your other cell phone." Michael complied. He was given a photograph of two men, both looked to in their twenties.
"Those men are your target. They are expected in Miami today. You are to wait and watch. If you see them report it. Do not approach. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Did they think he didn't know how do to surveillance?
"Stay in position until told otherwise." The phone went dead."Great" he muttered.
He spent the day sat in the lounge of a three star hotel. Watching tourists and out of town business men. He made an attempt to call Sam's cell phone but found the call blocked. He guessed that all calls except to the number he had been given would be the same. They kept him there until gone six o clock, then a call told him a car was waiting to take him home.
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Sam turned up at Madeline's a little after ten am, more than a little upset with his friends. Didn't either of them know how to return a call. He was calling round to pick up Jesse, he still didn't completely trust the man but he had at least answered his phone. That got him quite a bit of credit that morning with Sam.
Sam made the choice to try Michael's first, but when they got there they found the place locked up. At Fiona's things took a more worrying turn. Her car was there, but it wasn't locked. When they tried her condo the was no answer. Sam took a big risk and picked the lock. If she was there she would probably kill him for breaking into her home. She wasn't, now Sam was definitely worried.
They started with a search of all the warehouses and storage facilities they knew about. They tried to talk to the security guards but they were all to scared of Fiona to tell them anything. Sam started calling Michael at regular intervals getting more and more concerned about him as well.
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Fiona kicked the coffee table as hard as she could into the legs of her ex boyfriend and was up and running for the door. As her hand curled round the handle she was knocked hard into the door her skull bouncing off the wood. Her legs buckled, but she had no intention of going down without a fight, she tried to turn and grab at her attacker but felt a punch connect with her jaw.
"You stupid girl."Toby snarled and kicked her for good measure. "There's no way out of here." He dragged her back to the bedroom by her hair. "And I was trying to be nice to you."
"You thought I'd just give in didn't you. God what did I ever see in you." She spat the words out.
He slammed the door shut and she heard it lock. "Shout yer heart out if that's what you want. This place is condemned we're the only ones here."
She climbed to her feet rubbing her sore head. "You know what Toby I'll never deal with you. You'll have to kill me first."
"No I won't." He shouted back. "All I have to do is let Kian Smith know where the bitch is that blew his baby brother's hand off with a piece of C4."
Fiona sunk back down to the floor. This was going to take some getting out of.
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Michael got his own cell phone back when the car actually stopped outside his home. As he walked up the stairs he was horrified to discover he had fifteen missed calls from Sam. He went inside, dialling Sam's number as he did.
"Jesus Mikey where have you been?" Came Sam's voice. "Look Fi's missing." Michael had been about to pull his shoes off instead he gathered up his car keys and his Glock and ran out the door, phone firmly pressed against his ear.
"How long? He asked.
"I don't know tried to call both you and her this morning but neither of you answered."
"Sorry Sam I had a job, they wouldn't let me take my phone." He was in his car now pulling out into traffic. "Where are you?"
"Fi's, we let ourselves in. Jesse is with me."
"Look I'm going to try and get my new boss to answer my call just to check it's not something they've done. You call Sean, Fi's brother see if his heard anything." He hung up, then pulled over he did not want to be driving if he got hold of this new handler and found out he had done something to Fiona.
Michael looked at the phone for a moment trying to calm himself down. These people held all the cards. He dialled the number that was on the back of the photo they had given him.
"What's the problem Mr Westen?" Came his handler Reid Ottoman's voice.
"You know the is a problem?"
"Of course you left your home in rather a hurry. Now what is it?" So they were following him. He felt justified now for his paranoia.
"Do you have Fiona?"
"Why would I have your girlfriend?" Ottoman's voice sounded amused.
"You've made enough threats."
"Mr Westen I do not make threats. If you had done something to warrant us taking Miss Glenanne I can assure you, you would be the first to know. Now if you use that phone to threaten me again I will take that as a reason to call you in for a chat. Are we clear?"
"Yes." Michael spoke through gritted teeth.
"Manners Mr Westen, yes what?"
Michael really, really wanted to hurt that man. "Yes sir." The line went dead. Quickly changing phones Michael got back onto Sam.
"I've got nothing." He told his friend. "Does Sean have any idea's?"
"One, an ex boyfriend and business partner from New York is meant to be relocating down here. Oh and word is out that you are dead Mikey."
"I'll be with you soon, see what you can find out about this ex boyfriend." He threw the phone down onto the passenger seat.
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As he drew up outside Fiona's he was boxed in by two vehicles which appeared out of nowhere. He reached for his gun and the phone rang. He paused, he could see he was covered by four men in total. Sam and Jesse were coming out of Fiona's their guns drawn. This was going to end badly. He took his hand away from his gun and climbed out of the car, phone up to ear, other hand up in the air.
"Hello.."
"We need you back at your post." Came the order.
"You're doing this deliberately."Michael accused.
"Get back to your post, Mr Westen."
Michael frantically looked around weighing up his options. He had none.
"Fine." He snapped.
"Get in the car behind you, leave your other cell with my men."
"Why are you doing this?" The phone went dead.
"Mikey!" Sam shouted across to him.
"I've got to go Sam, Find her." Michael pulled himself together, and walked to the car handing over his cell.
"Did he just bail on us?" Jesse watched as the two cars peeled away. Sam had lowered his gun cursing under his breathe.
"He had no choice Jesse you know that." He turned back to the condo. "See if you can find out where Fi's ex has set up business. I'll see if I can find out anything about him from a buddy in New York."
"You have a buddy in The Big Apple?"
Sam smiled. "Hey I have buddies all over the place."
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Michael was surprised when he was taken to another hotel. The driver turned to him.
"They booked into room two twenty five, they left for dinner about twenty minutes ago this is a key card for their room. You are to retrieve a memory stick." He handed Michael an ear piece. Which he put in place. "We'll let you know if they're on their way back."
"If they come back?"
"The memory stick is your concern, if you're disturbed deal with it."
Michael nodded and headed inside and up to the second floor. He saw nobody on the corridor and made it into the room with no problems. As he began his search for the memory stick, he reached into his pocket and pulled out another cell phone. He had been a little worried they would search him but they had not. So for once they had underestimated him.
"Sam have you found her yet?" He wasted no time with pleasantries.
"The is a condemned apartment block near to the docks. Apparently this guy likes to live near where he keeps his stock and he has bought warehouse space just along the street."
"I'm searching a hotel room for a memory stick, let me know when you know for sure and I'll get away."
"Jesse is having a scout around I'll get back to you. Good luck brother."
Michael finished his search with three memory sticks going into his pocket. As he was preparing to leave he got a call through the ear piece. The men were on their way up to the room. He was ordered to take them down and search them. He hid in the room and waited.
The two young men did not stand a chance even against an injured Michael Westen. He had them both incapacitated with in seconds. Tying them up he went through their pockets cursing everytime he caught one of his fingers. When he was sure he had everything he gagged both of the captives and hung the do not disturb sign on the door. He walked out as fast as he could, dropping the memory sticks onto the driver's lap. He snatched back his cell phone and stalked away, calling Sam to come and pick him up.
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Jesse scouted around the docks, noticing the amount of Irish and New York accents he was hearing. He asked a couple of the guys about job opportunities and who he should speak to. Most were closed mouth but at a bar after buying a few rounds he found out the was a new guy who might be hiring soon.
It was getting dark as they got ready to get Fiona back. Madeline watched them prepare, it was like the had never been a problem between them. Once ready they got into Sam's car and headed off. She watched them go, a cigarette dangling from her lip. She went inside and got out all her first aid supplies hoping she wouldn't need any of them.
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Toby Mulligan had forgotten how stubborn Fiona Glenanne could be when she put her mind to something. He had thought she would remember all the good times they had shared. With her lover dead he thought she would welcome him back. But she had changed, she was definitely shriller and as far as he was concerned far to opinionated. Eventually he had enough of her shouted views about him, his family and ancestors. He stormed into the room brandishing her own gun, her constant verbal abuse was driving him insane.
Fiona of course had been counting on him coming in full of anger and not thinking clearly. She launched her attack without any warning. Mulligan got a shock when she came straight at him, punching, kicking using moves he had never seen before. She thanked her stars that Michael had never gone easy on her during their sparring sessions. She got in some good blows before he started to recover. He had her pinned down when they heard the door being broken through. He was on his feet looking at the new threat.
"Who the hell are you?" He roared.
"Michael Westen." Came the reply. Cold blue eyes looking over the barrel of a gun.
"You're dead."
"No you are." The was a sharp retort and Mulligan's body arched and fell forward.
During the fight Fiona had managed to get her gun back. A gun with a now smoking barrel. Michael stared at her, kneeling on the bed, her clothes half ripped from her body, a black eye forming. It took him a second, then he had hold of her.
"I'm sorry Fi." He held her face in his hands staring into her eyes. "Did he?"
"No Michael I'm fine honestly." She tried to make light of the situation. He insisted on helping her up.
Jesse poked his head into the room, "Look guy's the dock security heard the shot the are police on the way we need to go."
They made quick work of removing as many of their fingerprints as they could, then headed out. Back to Madeline's first to let her see that everyone was in one piece. Then Sam dropped Fi and Michael off at her home. Sam was pleased to see they had made up most of their differences. For the time being it seemed they were getting back on track. Sam went of home first to get cleaned up, he planned on hitting a few of the late night bars. He was after all between lady friends.
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Unfortunately for Sam his phone started ringing not long after he got back to his own bed. Cursing he reached for his phone. Looking at the caller id, he sat up. "What's up Fi?"
"Sam, they came and took Michael about fifteen minutes ago. They just burst in looking like cops on a drugs bust or something. Dragged him out in handcuffs."
"Oh hell I'll be right over."
As soon as they got him into the car they slapped a black bag over his head. He felt a needle go into his arm as they sedated him, making it impossible for him to work out where he was going or for how long he was travelling. He was dragged into a room and placed into a chair. Another injection brought him back to full consciousness.
It was a plus. He thought, he was not tied down into the chair and the hand cuffs had been removed. What wasn't so good was Reid Ottoman smiling at him over a clipboard.
"Well Mr Westen, you seem to have a strange way of dealing with enemy combatants."
"What do you mean?" Though he could guess. "Those two kids?"
"Two kids who had our classified data."
Michael smiled, "They are a couple of kids I saw them. You've got you data back. Have them arrested."
Ottoman put the clip board down, reached into his pocket and placed a snub nose revolver on Michael's lap.
"They are highly paid thieves who work for our enemies. They are next door go finish your assignment Mr Westen."
Michael let the smile fade. Years ago this type of order would not of fazed him. But now.
"If they're good at their job why aren't you turning them?"
"We have our own retrieval teams, you've met them already. Time is wasting here. It is you or them Mr Westen." And there was the threat.
Michael picked up the gun and checked the chambers. Standing up, the door was opened for him as he headed out into the corridor for next door.