Chapter Twenty-Nine

Not being able to remain quiet for long, Clare whispered, "Who is that man?"

Eli's eyes were still closed. He couldn't believe that he found himself in yet another one of these situations that seemed preplanned. How could this man know who he was? How did this man even know that he was in the hospital? He hadn't told a soul about his plan. Only Kyle knew, and Kyle was currently preoccupied himself. So this narrowed down the list of people who knew it was him. Finally, he opened his eyes into the frightened blue orbs of Clare's. "I think it's the man responsible for all this."

Her eyes widened. "No." She said, shaking her head. "It can't be."

Eli nodded and looked away, unable to handle the fear in her eyes. He was supposed to her her out of her safe, long before Scorpion showed up. This couldn't be him. It just couldn't be. "It might very well be."

"We don't know that for sure," Clare insisted, "It could be someone else."

Eli shook his head. "Given the luck I've had, I'd say it's him."

A silence fell between them but it did not last. "Elijah Goldsworthy, I will not say this again. Come out with your hands up."

"What are we going to do?" Clare asked nervously.

"What choice do we have?" Eli retorted. "I'm going to do what the man says. You remain here."

Clare began to protest, but Eli quickly silenced her with a kiss. It was brief, but long enough to make her stomach flutter. She blinked at him as he smirked. "I love you, Clare."

"I—I love you, too."

Eli put his hands up and got out from around the corner. The second he did so, the flashlight went right on him.

"Stay right there." The man ordered. "Don't move."

"How did you know I was here, Scorpion?" Eli asked boldly. "I didn't tell anyone. You've got resources, but not that many."

"You really think I'm Scorpion?" The man asked and actually laughed. "I despise that son of a bitch. I want nothing more than to bring that man to justice."

Clare blinked; this entire conversation was nearly lost on her. She didn't know who Scorpion was, or this man. He sounded like someone she knew from her past... but older. She tried to remember to the best of her ability as Eli spoke again.

"If you're not Scorpion, who are you? Why are you here? I just don't understand who you are and what your part in all of this is."

The man chuckled again and lowered the flashlight off of Eli. "I met Scorpion when I was a teenager," The man began softly, "My father had come back into my life and, to my failure, I was unable to protect my mother against him. I called the police the moment I found my mother laying in a puddle of her own blood. The officer that arrived was in a short sleeve police uniform, exposing a re-inked scorpion tattoo. He did the normal investigation routine but when he was about to leave, he said that my mother had asked for it. Said that she couldn't hide from the man that had been her husband." The man's tone grew angrier. "I never forget that. I swore that this man, this "officer of the law" was up to no good. I swore that I would have revenge on him for saying that my mother deserved the beating that she got."

Eli chuckled darkly. "You should've killed him. That's the easiest way to get revenge."

"I realize that now," The man admitted, "And people like you and Clare have paid the price for that. I didn't want to just kill him: that was too easy. I wanted him to face public disgrace. I wanted him to lose all his power and influence that he'd gained. I wanted him to suffer in a jail cell for the rest of his life, living with the shame. That would've been revenge better than death."

"It can still happen, you know," Eli said, "We can still bring him down."

"I think we've had a nice enough chat, "The man said, looking around. "Have you found her yet?"

"Can you please just tell me who you are?" Eli pleaded. "Please?"

Before the man could speak, Clare shouted, "KC!" Eli looked over at her as she bounded out from her hiding spot to join him. "I remember now!"

Eli looked back over at the man. Now that he had gotten closer, Eli could now see the older features of Clare's ex-boyfriend KC. Eli hadn't know the boy well enough, but had seen him in the halls enough to remember what he looked like. He never figured he would have an ally in an ex-boyfriend. "This still doesn't answer how you knew I was in here or what exactly you're doing here." Eli said, looking down at the man's gun and feeling nervous.

"I had looked at the records of the hospital and managed to find a Clare Diana Edwards here." KC explained, "And I've been watching the news very carefully. I figured you two had to be dating again," He said, chuckling, "So when I came to see if she had made it safe, I figured you would've been in there trying to get her out."

"That's a lot of guessing for a cop." Eli said suspiciously.

"I was right, wasn't I?"

Eli exhaled. "Yeah, you were."

Clare had been silent, simply looking from KC to Eli and back again. "What are we going to do now?"

"I think KC is going to help you get out of here," Eli said solemnly. "We need to get out of here now. We've wasted enough time as it is." Eli looked up at KC. "Can you take her away from here? Far away from here? She's pregnant. She needs to live."

"What? Wait!" Clare exclaimed. "You're coming with me, aren't you?"

Eli shook his head just as he heard the helicopter above the hospital. He grabbed Clare's shoulder and nudged her over to KC. "Please. Take her somewhere safe away from Toronto. Go to the States if you have to – Europe, I don't care. Just keep her safe."

"What are you going to be doing?" KC asked.

"The person holding hostages in the main lobby is... an ally of mine. He's going to try and get face to face with Scorpion. I want to be there. I need to be there." Eli said, taking a step back as Clare reached for him. "Can you keep her safe?"

KC looked down at Clare, who was now struggling against his grip. He quickly nodded. "I wasn't able to protect my mother. I will protect Clare with my life, Eli. I swear."

That was enough for Eli. He turned around and began jogging back in the direction of the main lobby.

When he was out of sight, Clare cried out, "NO!"