~oOo~
"Wakey, wakey, hands off snakey." The cellar door burst open and Robert Wilder hovered on the top step, getting a visual on his nephew before proceeding further into the room.
"Well, look at you. Don't you look all refreshed and sprightly this morning?" With a wave of his rifle, he motioned for Lucas to move out of the shadows.
Shaky, but up on his feet, the teenager moved slowly back to Jim's side. He was still fighting off the nausea, and the dark throbbing bruise on the side of his face seemed to be playing a concerto in time with his pulse, but he was doing considerably better and feeling a lot more capable of standing up to Robert than he had been last night. Remembering Jim's words about biding his time and not going out of his way to antagonise, he obediently followed his uncle's directions.
"Catch."
A pair of handcuff keys were tossed in Lucas's direction. "Un-cuff him from the pipe and then re-cuff his hands behind his back."
Jim and Lucas's eyes met. "Do as he says," Jim said, quietly.
Kneeling down and twisting the key, Lucas released the cuff from the pipe. Carefully, he drew the older man's arms behind his back and snapped the cuff around the other wrist.
"Don't make me come over there, boy," Robert sighed.
Lucas reluctantly clicked the handcuff a notch tighter, making it impossible for Jim's wrist to slide through.
"Keys," Robert ordered.
Lucas tossed them back.
Wilder didn't even have to look at the keys to recognise that one was missing. "You know," he stated, "you'd think a person that's had as many lessons as you would start to get a little wise, eventually." He dangled the single key in front of his face. "This is exactly why I need to have a few little persuasive measures up my sleeve to keep you in line." He moved to the side of the room and motioned the pair toward the stairs. "Let's go see if we can catch one of those persuasive measures, shall we?"
Lucas helped Jim to his feet, his prolonged grip on the detective's arm more to do with steadying his own vertigo than anything else. "You okay?" Jim mumbled.
"Yeah," Lucas breathed. He moved to stand behind Jim.
"Ah Lucas, you in front," Robert directed. "I want to have a nice, clear aim on the cop's back, just in case you decide to do anything foolish." Robert held out his hand. "And let's not get lazy and forget that key."
Grudgingly, Lucas tossed it over to Robert. Out of the corner of his eye he watched with great interest as it wasn't pocketed, but instead placed haphazardly on the top shelf of a dilapidated hutch that rested against the far wall. Chance number one, he thought.
~oOo~
"Now, I guess you both must be wondering why I've brought you out here?" Robert circled his captives, who were now on their knees in the clearing in front of the cabin. Max hovered in the background, not offering anything but his cowardly presence. "You see, things didn't go exactly according to plan." He butted the rifle barrel against the back of Jim's head. "First off, you were already meant to be dead, but unfortunately, the little cocksucker here had other plans. Now, I could kill you right here and now, but it leaves me with a small problem." Moving across, Robert placed the rifle barrel at the back of Lucas's skull. "And that problem is control, isn't it, Lucas, my boy?" Robert's heavy black boots scuffed the dirt as he positioned himself in front of the pair. "Control, however, is easy to maintain when one has the right tools. Tools such as the threat of harm to those people you've come to care about. It could be a friend, a lover, a child, or even a younger brother." He sneered. "But even the well-being of a younger brother sometimes doesn't work, does it Lucas?"
The teenager flinched.
"Don't take the bait," Ellison cautioned under his breath.
Wilder laughed. "Now, I could continue to use the cop here as my control, but I like my control subjects to be multifaceted. While I have no doubt he gives good head, something a little younger, sweeter ... innocent is more to my taste." Robert squatted down on his haunches. "But my sweet little cherub seems to have scampered off." He placed the barrel under Lucas chin. "Any idea of how I could rectify that, Lucas?"
Lucas glared fiercely at his uncle, but remained silent.
"No?" Robert said, answering the boy's question for him. "Well, it's just as well I do. You see, even though he took off, my guess is that he hasn't gone far. He's what, three? How far would a three-year-old venture into these scary woods? I'd be guessing not too far. But since I appear to be having difficulty getting Mohammad to come to the mountain, I just might have to take the mountain to Mohammad." He turned his attention to Jim. "You, my friend, can be the mountain."
Chuckling, Robert got to his feet. "Huh," he sighed. "You two certainly are a quiet pair. Must be all that sex you've been having. Zaps the old energy right out of you." Pulling a handgun from his belt Robert levelled it against Lucas's temple. "Time to find your voice, cop. You call your son to come out or Lucas gets an extra ventilation hole."
"Jim, no!" Lucas gasped.
"Jimbo, yes," Robert retaliated, putting slightly more pressure on the trigger.
"He won't come," Jim answered. With his mind racing, he desperately tried to think of some way to buy some time. He concentrated, frantically, scanning the area for any sign of Blair. His ears picked up a sound that made his heart plummet. Blair was close by. The small, rapid heartbeat left no question about that.
"Come on, Jimmy, you can do it," Robert encouraged. "I'll look after him, I promise."
Before the sentinel could respond or do anything to take Robert's focus off Lucas, Blair stepped out into the open.
"Blair, no!" The shout echoed through the forest, but it was to no avail. The youngster's decision had already been made.
~oOo~
"You won't go too far away, will you?" Blair wrapped his arms around Incacha's neck. He was scared, more scared than he could remember being in a long, long time. Tom had frightened him and Tom had hurt him. Images of his face still sometimes haunted his dreams, but Tom was dead; Tom couldn't hurt him anymore. But this man, this man could and, while Lucas had never really told him what the man with the black eyes had done to him, he knew it was very bad.
Incacha hugged Blair tightly to his chest. "I won't be too far away, I promise, little one." He pushed Blair back and cupped his cheek. "But you have to remember what I told you."
"Ah-ha, I do," Blair replied. "I not to tell Lucas that Bagheera or Rahma or you are here. He has to be brave all by himself."
"That's right," Incacha nodded.
"Incacha, what happens if the man hurts him so bad that he can't be brave?"
"Then I will come." Incacha prayed fervently that Lucas had the strength needed to take this through to the end, because dealing with the council in order to save the boy's life would be a far greater challenge than dealing with the man by the name of Robert Wilder.
Letting go of Incacha and taking a deep breath, Blair stepped out into the clearing. His daddy's shouts filled his ears, but he wasn't going to turn back. His decision had been made.
~oOo~
Lucas's resolve broke and he scrambled to his feet before Jim had a chance to struggle to his. He intercepted Blair and swung him into his arms, shielding the three-year-old's body with his own. Any thoughts of proceeding further were shattered when the gun, that only moments before had been pressed into his temple, fired. Lucas realised, with a sickening finality, that his impulsive action might have wrought deadly consequences.
"Jim!" Lucas spun around, relieved to find Jim still standing and still in one piece.
"It's okay." Jim raked his eyes over Blair before locking eyes with Lucas.
"Of course it's okay, Dad," Robert said. "Now that little Forest Gump has returned, I can put part two of my plan into action." Wilder shoved Ellison in the back. "Move," he ordered. "You have a date with destiny."
One single look from Jim conveyed a world of information to the teenager. Within the sentinel's eyes he saw strength, fortitude and a determination that truly made him believe that Jim would be okay. He also saw something that deep down he'd known for months now – Jim's love for them both. Despite trying so hard to keep it together, a tear ran down Lucas's cheek. "I will," he promised. The promise he'd made was the most important one he'd ever have to make – a promise to Jim to keep Blair safe, no matter what.
~oOo~
"I really am a nice, considerate kind of guy, don't you think?" The path which Robert was forcing Jim to follow veered north, away from the cabin, and stayed more or less parallel to the river. In the distance, Jim could hear the distinct sound of fast-flowing water.
"I mean, I could have killed you on the spot, right in front of your kid, but being the nice, considerate guy that I am, I decided right here is a far more fitting place for you to meet your demise." Wilder pulled Jim to a stop on a grassy slope at the edge of a steep precipice.
"Besides," he said, turning Jim around so he could see his face when he killed him, "I've taken a liking to this little vacation spot and might stay a day or two. I wouldn't want the place being stunk up by the stench of your rotting corpse."
"You know what, Wilder?" Without warning, Jim slammed his forehead into Wilder's, giving the bastard a Liverpool kiss that would make any Englishman proud. "You talk too much." Robert went reeling back, completely stunned, not only by the pain, but by the unexpected move from the detective.
Still shackled and severely limited in his range of movements, Jim landed a well-place kick on Wilder's jaw, sending the man rolling perilously close to the edge of the cliff.
Unfortunately, the move also took Wilder closer to the fallen rifle and, while Robert may have been dazed, he still had enough faculties intact to reach for the weapon.
Jim lunged for the gun at the same time Robert moved. The man on the ground had the advantage and he lashed out with his feet, causing Jim to overbalance. Unable to stop the fall with his hands, Ellison fell hard, skidding into Robert's body and taking them even closer to danger. The next move was not made by man, but by a loosened section of dirt combined with gravity. As the soil gave way, Jim toppled over, landing heavily on a small outcrop of rocks about fifteen feet below the lip of the cliff. Robert was slightly luckier. He grabbed and clawed at the foliage, not only managing to find a handhold, but also a foothold in the cliff face. An unearthly, feral yell ripped from his lungs, spurring his body on and giving him the will to pull himself up and back onto solid ground. Shaking slightly and breathing heavily, he laid on his back and let loose another wild cry. The cop below was about to die.
"Fuck," Jim swore as soon as he saw Wilder scramble over the edge. He scanned the river below, hoping that his sentinel sight would kick in and enable him find a safe passage down. It worked, to a point. His eyesight was marginally better than normal and gave him an indication of what lay just below the surface of the water. The far side of the river was churning with rapids, the near side, fast flowing but not quite as laden with rocks. He was taking a chance with his life, but he didn't have a choice. He was a sitting duck where he was.
Ellison jumped just as the first shot rang out. It was the last thing he remembered as his body was pulled under and dragged into the depths of the roiling river.
~oOo~