Chapter Ten

Anna paced the floor with her tentacles nervously. What to do, what to do, what to do. A couple hours had passed and she felt a lot better after they removed the bullet from her leg. Although not much time had passed, Anna still felt that they had wasted perfectly good time which they could have used and was anxious. The Parker and what was left of the Octavious family all sat in the living room quietly. They all were in shock, and Rosie had to leave the room for a while, but the most alarmed was Anna.

"Everything'll be alright." Peter assured her.

"He's being held captive and who knows what they're doing to him." Anna said.

"New York's jails aren't like the jails you read about in fairy-tale books. The prisoners are kept very well." Peter comforted.

"They took him away so brutishly. Who knows? He could have a death sentence by now. He could even be being exicuted right now." Anna said picturing the horrible sight of her father being strapped into the electric chair.

"The authorities wouldn't be able to exicute him without a fair trial first." Mary-Jane said.

"But he still could be being tortured. They could be drilling him, or his cell mates might be beating on him." Anna persisted – tears welling in her eyes.

Peter signaled for her to sit down. She wiped her eyes and took a seat. "Anna, your father – dispite everything he did wrong – was a great man. And he still is. He's able to handle a few tests." Peter chuckled a little. "If he couldn't handle tests, he'd be dead by now. He was always testing things on himself. Giving Rosie heart attacks." Anna ceased to smile. "Things'll turn out Anna. Don't worry." He said with a smile.

The sincereness of his voice surprised Anna. It sounded as if Peter didn't have a single doubt. With this trust in the truth, Anna built up the courage to ask Peter what she had been meditating on the whole time. "We're going to get him, right?" she asked quietly.

Peter frowned. "No. I'm afraid not. Technically, the police do have the authority to capture him."

"But—" Anna stopped herself.

"But what?" Peter asked. Anna thought that was close. She almost revealed that she knew Peter's secret. With that information, Mr. Parker might pay closer attention to her. She couldn't take that chance.

"Nothing." She answered lowering her eyes. "But, why can't we go get him? We should have the right to free him." Anna protested.

"We do. But we aren't going to use force. We're going to testify on his behalf in court next week." Peter replied although he himself didn't want to take the long way around. Peter understood why she wanted to use force; he did also. He could easily slip in and out without causing a rucus, but he couldn't give that bad idea to Anna.

"Next week!"

"I'm sorry Anna, but that's how we need to play the game." Peter finished getting up and heading down the hall.

Anna looked at Mary-Jane. "Sorry. Peter's right." She replied softly following her husband down the hall.

"Hil, I need you." Anna stated.

"Anna, you know it wouldn't be smart to go after him." Hillary said solemnly getting up. She felt awful about declining her friend, but she also knew that stealing Otto from the facility would only bring more police to the matter.

Anna spotted Rosie in the doorway of the kitchen. She looked pale with fright. Anna ran to her. "Mom, please." She pleaded.

"I'm sorry Anna. We can't." tears began blurring Rosie's vision and her voice became quivery. "We just can't." Rosie rubbed her forehead and went to sit down on the couch.

Anna followed her with her eyes. "Not if I can help it."