Sorry for delay - but i'm still enjoying writing this and hope you still enjoy reading! Please r&r - every little helps! Thanks for your patience! :-)
Bosley and Kris had been driving for nearly two and a half hours before they finally found the place that the minister had given them directions to. They had got lost a few times and had to backtrack, but finally, on the South side of the mountain, down a deserted track and obscured from the general view by trees, they found a small sign which read: "Narrow is the path leading to eternal life - welcome to the sanctuary of The Chosen of the Lord!"
Bosley eased the car up to the main gates and saw that there was an intercom fixed into the high wall by the gates and a small camera set just above the wall, looking down onto the gate area. He also noticed the wall ran as far as he could see in both directions and assumed that it surrounded the whole grounds. Kris saw the camera also and eased down in her seat, hopefully out of sight. Bosley then stepped out of the car, walked up and pressed the buzzer. There was no immediate response. He stepped right up to the gates and looked at the ornate floral design handcrafted into the ironwork. Nice job, he thought to himself. Then he peered through, and could see the tops of buildings up ahead. It looked like a big place. He tried the intercom again and waited. The intercom crackled after a few more moments and a voice answered.
"Yes?"
"Oh may I speak to the proprietor of this establishment?" Bosley leaned over and asked politely.
"Who is this?" Bosley found the person rather abrupt, but continued.
"I'm from the US Census Bureau… we would like to conduct a census of your … erm… occupants, please…"
There was a pause, before the voice replied.
"You've come all the way up here? Why didn't you send a letter or something?" The voice sounded disbelieving and accusatory. Bosley was quick to respond.
"We did Sir, twice, but have had no response from you. You are aware that it is against the law to refuse this request?"
"Can you please give proof of your identity - there is a camera above your head."
Bosley pulled out a business card which he had used on other occasions and put it up to the camera.
There was another slight pause before the intercom crackled off and a buzz signalled the heavy wrought iron gates to creak open. He got back into the car and followed the driveway around some unkempt fir trees, then the view of the buildings opened up.
"Hmmm very secluded!" He remarked to Kris, who was still hunched down in her seat.
"Let's hope we find Kelly rattling around in there somewhere!" Kris replied.
"Yeah." Bosley agreed. He drove up to the front entrance and got out, taking a good look at the place, as he stepped up to two heavy looking wooden doors and pressed the buzzer that was fitted at the side of one of them. The main building didn't look too old… maybe built in the thirties to accommodate rich folks little brats, Bosley mused. A man with a grey robe appeared very quickly at the door and when he spoke to ask Bosley to step inside, he recognised the voice from the intercom. The man didn't appear to appreciate his presence at all. Bosley was then shown into an office inside, immediately next to the entrance, where a thin old-ish looking man in a black suit was waiting for him.
"Ah Mr Bosley, isn't it? Please have a seat. I am sorry for the delay we appear to have caused you." Bosley sat down in the small wooden chair and felt rather like he had been called in to see a school headmaster for some odd reason.
"My name is Brother Marcus and I run this sanctuary for girls who are searching for their spiritual meaning in life." Brother Marcus leaned over towards Bosley from his plush black leather chair.
"I am sorry to have caused you the inconvenience of travelling out here Mr Bosley but we have not received any notifications from your Bureau at all." Brother Marcus seemed to be challenging Bosleys story. Bosley was unpurturbed.
"Then it's a good job I came out here Brother Marcus… I wouldn't wish to hamper your good work here by having to report you to the authorities, so if you'd be so kind as to show me your records, then I can be on my merry way!" Bosley offered a smile. Brother Marcus smiled also, but Bosley noticed a small glint in his eyes.
"You see the problem is Mr Bosley, that we don't keep records here… I do not deem it necessary to compile lists regarding the personal information of any who stay here. The girls sign a book when they check in and out… it's rather like a hotel in that respect…and for most, their stay is a short temporary one anyway. Most girls move on again after a couple of weeks…lamentably." Marcus seemed to be disappointed with this little fact. Bosley sighed, irritated with this man. He needed to have access to something, somehow.
"Okay Mr…sorry, Brother Marcus. Would it be at all possible to see all the girls you currently have with you? I can then take just a few minor details from each of them and that will be that."
Marcus looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Well I don't think…" He began.
Bosley cut him off. "I'm sorry Brother Marcus, I must do my job or report to my superiors, who will then involve the authorities." Bosley held his palms up in a gesture of innocence.
Marcus sighed. "Alright Mr Bosley. You may interview the girls. I will send them in here to you. There are only around fifteen, currently. I hope it doesn't take too long. We have classes running, you see."
Bosley sighed inwardly at this little step forward. He got the distinct feeling that Brother Marcus was struggling to keep his christian self control in check. About ten minutes later, a young woman knocked and entered. Bosley stood up and offered her the seat.
"Ah, hello, my name is Mr Bosley and I just need to take a few details from you for the US census this year…" Bosley questioned the woman for a few minutes then the girl left and another came in. And Bosley repeated the same process, each time, looking expectantly at the door, waiting for Kelly to walk in. By the seventh 'interview', Bosley was a little worried. He'd felt almost certain that Kelly was here. He had a gut feeling. But by the tenth girl, Bosley was beginning to lose heart. The twelfth girl came and went and Bosley was wondering what the odds were that Kelly could be in the last two or three girls left. Unlucky thirteen, he thought, as another knock came at the door and it swung open. Bosley almost gasped her name when he saw Kelly, but grinned broadly and motioned a very startled and surprised Kelly to close the door and be quiet. She did as she was bid then turned to Bosley.
"What are YOU doing here Bosley? How did you find me? Why are you trying find me?" She hurriedly whispered her questions tersely to an anxious Bosley, who then was himself surprised at Kelly's words. Kelly was not exactly pleased to see him, he realised.
He moved Kelly away from the door and further across the room by Marcus's desk.
"Kelly, do you know how worried we've all been?" He said, looking over her to see if she was alright. "Are you okay? I take it you're here because of the Limardo girl?"
It was Kelly's turn to be surprised. "How did you know?" She whispered back. Then she held her hands up. "Wait, it's a long story…I can't tell you everything here. But basically i got hi-jacked by Alexandra Limardo, a mobsters wife, to find the killer of her daughter. So yeah that's what I'm doing here. I think drugs are being manufactured in the cellar and I think Alda Limardo found out and somehow got on the wrong end of Marcus's hospitality." Kelly sighed. "But I'm not certain… I need more time. Look Bos, I'm sorry about my letter - I had no choice…" She looked at Bosley, who was listening intently to Kelly's information so far. "How are Kris and Bri? Can you tell them I'm sorry for upsetting them?" She saw a stressed frown crease Bosley's brow. "What's wrong?"
"Well Sabrina got beat up…by Mrs Limardo's thugs, it seems." He saw the look of shock on Kelly's face and continued. "She's gonna be okay… but it'll take a while. Look Kelly… Kris is in the car outside. We can get you out of here right now." He made to take hold of her arm but Kelly pulled away.
"No Bos, I need to see this through. Besides, Mrs Limardo is not going to let me just walk away from this. Look what's happened to Bri." Kelly felt distraught over Sabrina and desperately wanted to go with Bos and see both her friends, but she knew it was impossible at this moment…that's timing for you, she thought wistfully.
Bosley sighed. "I don't wanna just leave you in here Kelly…"
"It's alright, I'll be fine." Kelly held Bosley's arm for a moment. "Tell Bri I'm sorry…" She said earnestly. "…give her my love, okay?"
"Sure thing Kelly." Bosley also gave her arm a brief squeeze.
"Maybe you can find out a few things about brother Marcus and also two women in here, Colleen John and Catherine Clayton…I don't know how we can keep in touch, though…" Kelly looked at Bosley apologetically.
Bosley nodded. "Leave it with me. Here, you'd better take this, just in case…be careful, okay?" He gave Kelly his gun and she tucked it inside her skirt band, and covered it with her blouse then crossed the room and opened the door. Bosley watched her cast a quick smile over her shoulder at him.
"Every day in every way!" She whispered back.
She then disappeared off into the buildings dimly lit interior. He finished up with the last two girls, before leaving brother Marcus to his 'sanctuary' and Kelly to an even more uncertain time ahead. He strode back to the car with the list he had compiled and checked to see if the two names Kelly had given him were there. They were - at least he could pass this to the police in case someone's relatives were looking for any of the girls in there. They didn't appear to be under any duress but Bosley was nothing if not thorough.
He got back into the car and made himself comfortable, ready for Kris's obvious next question.
"So where's Kelly Bos - is she there or not? What's going on?" Kris couldn't keep the note of immense disappointment out of her tone as she voiced her concerns from her cramped, hunched position and Bosley immediately felt unnerved again for leaving Kelly. But he kept his eyes forward in-case they were being watched. He switched the engine on and turned the car around.
"Kris, it's okay, we've found her!" Bosley said, encouragingly. "But things are a little difficult - we can't get Kelly out just yet."
"Why not? What's going on, Bos?" Kris couldn't believe they had come this close to Kelly and had not removed her from harms way.
Bosley drove the car back to the iron gates and they were allowed through, to head back down the dirt track. Bosley explained Kelly's position as he drove.
"So Kelly's still out there on her own - we need to think this through." Kris said, getting comfortable in her seat, and easing her back up straight. "We need to call Charlie too."
"Well, there's plenty of hotels further down the mountain, we can check in somewhere, contact Charlie and see what he thinks of the situation… "
"Okay…Bosley… but I want to get in there with Kelly." Kris sounded determined. Bosley shook his head.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Kris - Kelly didn't seem too pleased to see me back there."
It was Kris's turn to shake her head.
"I'm not letting her stay there alone."
"Kelly can look after herself, Kris - you know she can work this out by herself."
"But she doesn't have to Bosley!" Kris became a little indignant. "We're a team! We work cases together! Why does Kelly think she's a one man band sometimes? Why does she have to go off on these crusades?"
Bosley sighed. "This wasn't Kelly's idea remember?" He scratched his chin a little, his own feelings becoming a little apparent. He hated it when the angels were split up, each trying to work together but unable to, for one reason or another. But Kris was right…they were a team, they needed each other. And sometimes, Kelly maybe just chose to ignore that fact.
Kris shrugged her shoulders. "I know Bos, but that doesn't mean she can't accept our help." Kris was feeling a little out of touch with everything. Sabrina was in the hospital and Kelly was being…well… Kelly! Kris needed to feel useful and on hand. She was going to have to take things a little further.
"All I'm saying is, she could do with some backup. We can't help her much out here, if drugs are involved…it's possible he's got contacts watching things from the outside…Kelly could be in deeper than she thinks!"
"Kris, I understand what your saying," Bos began placatingly. "But Kelly was adamant she could handle things."
Kris looked at Bosley. "Yeah? Well I can be just as adamant!" She folded her arms. Although Kris's words alarmed him, Bosley smiled inwardly a little. Sometimes, Kris was more like Jill than she knew. He covered his train of thought.
"Let's find a hotel and call Charlie first."
CA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabrina had been awake for around ten minutes, wondering if she ought to be enjoying the sensation of lightness she felt. She almost felt out of her own body and she guessed it was the painkillers she was on. Most likely morphine. It felt better than feeling the abuse she'd suffered. Infinitely more so. She decided to relax into the feeling and drift. There was something at the back of her mind though, scratching to be heard. But she didn't want to know. She wanted to float. Ah, this was more like it. She felt wave after eddying wave of surreal peace wash over her and welcomed it. What? What's the matter? Go away! She talked back to the thing scratching at the back of her mind. Something wanting to remind her of something, but she was too tired. Much too tired right now. Maybe later she would let it out and about. Maybe. But for now, she wanted to enjoy the peace.
The door to her room opened and her doctor came in, followed by a nurse with a tray of medication. She was able to open her other eye now, but she chose to keep both of them closed. The two approached her bed.
"Miss Duncan…Miss Duncan, are you awake?" The doctor asked, standing beside her on the bed.
If she replied 'no' she got the feeling he wasn't going to go away. She considered a nil response then decided it was a little childish. She carefully opened her eyes and blinked away the blur.
"How are you feeling Miss Duncan?" The doctor asked, not unkindly. He turned to the nurse and asked her to take Sabrina's pulse and temperature. The nurse busied herself at Sabrina's side, checking her IV lines as she went about her duties and making notes of the readings from the monitors.
"Light." Sabrina managed through puffed lips that hardly moved as she spoke.
"Hmm, that'll be the morphine. We just want to make sure you're comfortable. Are you in any pain at the moment?"
Sabrina considered his question then shook her head. It hurt to do so. She wondered which would hurt her more further, to try and speak or move her head again. Decisions, decisions. But she wasn't up for decision making. She was up for floating. She looked at the doctor, who had noticed that she had winced. She nodded her head.
"Okay. Please give Miss Duncan five more cc's of morphine." He turned back to his charge. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on you."
The nurse fed the medication into Sabrina's line and Sabrina then watched them both disappear from the room. Why did she have a tiny little pang of guilt suddenly? Why was there something insistent wanting to be heard somewhere in her head? Why did she care? Did she care? Sabrina wondered if she had suffered some brain damage after all. Oh well. Never mind. The insistency became less and less as Sabrina floated more and more. And she didn't want to stop.
CA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There wasn't a lot of room in his office to pace, but Marcus paced anyway. He had a problem. No, he had several. So, Vincent didn't trust him? Thought he was going to take off with the goods and the money? Did Vincent think he was that stupid? Marcus stopped pacing and turned and sat down at his desk, looking over the schedule for the next shipment. Vincent had sent his cronies round to check up on him and that was humiliating enough. He was the one that had started this racket. It was all his idea. He was the one that cut Vincent in on the deal. He was the one that had all the contacts in Mexico. Marcus threw the sheets of paper down on his desk in disgust. Now though, Vincent thought things were getting too hot - wanted to call it a day and told him - actually tried to order him to get rid of the girls and shut up shop! Who the hell did Vincent think he was? Marcus picked up his paper knife and began scoring down the paper in front of him in his agitation. Then he moved the knife to his hand and began to score it harshly across the palm of his hand, oblivious to the pain it caused. The knife was blunt but even so, he was leaving red welts across his palm with it. But he was unconcerned. He was more concerned with getting even with Vincent. His henchmen didn't worry Marcus. He'd dealt with worse. They had taken a look at the operation downstairs and argued that something was amiss. Now they were reporting back to Vincent and he would likely come out here himself to add more weight to the situation. Marcus decided he needed to buy a little time for himself. What if he was to send Vincent a sweetener or two? If he could somehow persuade Vincent to leave Marcus alone for just one more month, he might just be able to keep his plans on track. As for the girls, he wasn't going to let Vincent near them. No, the girls were his and he was taking them with him.