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Chapter Twenty Six # My Saviour #
"What?" Half of the room cried at Bobby Dawson as Archie followed him out.
"We were looking through old records, looking for anything new." Archie explained.
"It's been slow in ballistics. We found the house that the Martinez brothers grew up in. The only place that they were all in for the same time." Bobby added.
"We looked it up earlier, it was demolished." Greg dismissed.
"No, it wasn't." Archie grinned. "Those bastards were hackers, they changed the address, their old little isolated house is still standing, this is the address and coordinates."
At the same moment that Nick snatched the paper from her hands, Catherine and Alyssa ran in.
"We have information!"
"We have a location!"
Catherine's face burst into a smile. "Great!"
"What did you get?"
"Well, Alyssa was thinking that they were kind of acting out of proportion to what happened to them, so we were looking for more motives." Catherine began. "We found out that when they were children, the Martinez brothers were entered into a private test for money, to see if there were any links between sibling relationships and behaviour patterns. They we were all diagnosed with Lovell O'Shear's syndrome. It's a genetic disease, one of the main symptoms is that sufferers tend to read any grievance to themselves as maybe ten times worse than is actually is."
"So the triggers that seem out of proportion to us seem way in line when we look at how badly they were each affected by the disease…" Alyssa added.
"It makes sense." Catherine finished.
"I'm going. Now." Greg stood up.
"I'm with you." Nick added.
"And me." Sara added.
Finn stood up. "Well don't think I'm staying behind. I will call DB, though."
"I'm in." Morgan added.
"Let's move." Catherine announced.
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"Okay, Diego, it's time to move. They're here."
"You said they wouldn't find us!"
"Later, Diego, later. We have a plan B, no?"
Diego sighed. "Yeah, but now we won't get the money from selling them."
"There are thousands of kids in Las Vegas." Pedro shook his head.
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They stood outside their cars, frozen, as the two Martinez brothers walked out of the house.
"Hello, Las Vegas' finest." Pedro smiled, his hands in the air. "We have a proposition to make."
"Where the hell are they?" Greg yelled, but DB put a hand on his arm.
"This is our deal. Your kids are inside that house. We want to be able to leave. Once we leave, you can go in. Anyone who loves those children may go into that building."
"You're not going anywhere." Nick growled.
Suddenly, before their eyes, the house exploded into flames.
"NO!"
The police froze in place as Greg, Morgan, Nick, Finn, Sara and Russell sprinted towards the house without a second thought.
Pedro laughed out loud and Nick shoved past him.
"Greg!" Nick cried as they entered the burning house. "On the phone, they said Lola was the 'chica de arriba', she was upstairs!"
Greg nodded, racing to the staircase.
"Stick in pairs!" Russell roared over the flames and Morgan leapt over a broken vase to follow Greg upstairs.
"ELI!" Sara yelled. "ELI?"
Suddenly a small keening noise came from the kitchen. Sara raced in and the noise grew a little louder against the flames. She started pulling open cupboards and draws. She wrenched open a door and there he was, screaming, duct tape over his mouth and hands.
"Eli!" she gasped, and his eyes widened.
"MMHH!" he cried, leaning towards her. "MMHH!"
"Hold on, sweetie." Sara coughed, pulling the duct tape off of his mouth as gently as she could, before grabbing a knife from where it lay on the counter and slicing carefully through the tape binding his hands in case something happened and he had to escape the burning house alone.
Eli propelled into Sara's arms, coughing over the smoke. She held him tightly, before searching through the orange smoke for a way out. She started to move through back into the hallway, but a large beam fell with an enormous crash and blocked the path, flames exploding from the door.
Eli screamed again, and Sara put him gently on the floor. "Stay here, I'm going to look for a way ou..." She was interrupted by her own coughs.
"Sara! Don't leave me!" Eli cried in horror, latching onto Sara's arm tightly with both hands. "Please don't leave me, Sara!"
"I won't, I won't..." Sara glanced around the room, only to turn back when Eli grunted.
He was lifting up the fire extinguisher. He struggled for a moment, holding it towards Sara.
"Sweetie the flames are too big-"
"No! Throw it through the window!" Eli suggested.
Eyes widening in understanding, Sara took it from him and threw it through the glass.
She picked Eli up again and clambered onto the counter, dropping onto the ground outside and racing back to the cover of the police car.
"Kristy and Lola are still in there!" Eli suddenly cried.
"I know, the others're looking for them. Do you know where they are?" Sara asked, her hand on the side of Eli's face.
Eli shook his head dejectedly.
"That's okay..." Sara murmured, before her eyes filled with tears. "Oh god, Eli, I thought I'd lost you!"
"I thought we were all going to die!" Eli sobbed. "And Lola and Kris…Kristy!"
"I know, oh god, I know." Sara enveloped Eli in her arms, drawing him to her tightly.
All four of his limbs wrapped around Sara tightly, and he pressed his head into Sara's neck, crying softly.
"Sara!" Officer Mitch hissed, holding open the door to Sara's SUV.
Grateful for the cover, Sara clambered into the back, pulling Eli onto her lap and rocking him gently.
Eli put his thumb in his mouth and Sara was reminded of when he first arrived. For the first six months or so, Eli would suck his thumb if he ever got upset or scared. As his confidence grew, his thumb-sucking stopped.
Eli was more than frightened.
Sara rocked him back and forth, trying to stop the fear and add in a little hope to the mix.
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Greg tore through the upstairs bedrooms, coming up empty and stared up at the hatch to the attic. He reached up and pushed and a wooden ladder smashed down.
"I'm going to double check the bedrooms!" Morgan yelled and Greg nodded.
"I'm going up!" Greg cried, clambering up the ladder and peering around the room.
God… It was so hot…
"Lola? Lola?" Greg coughed, covering his mouth as the smoke curled through the attic.
He pulled open a cupboard and his heart stopped. Loeila was hanging by her arms on a coat hook, her head falling limply against her chest. There was a row of tiny cuts on her arm, and the scar on her cheek had been reopened to a bleeding gash. Duct tape was falling away from her mouth.
She wasn't moving. Not a single muscle.
"No, no, no, Lola! Oh god, please, no!" Greg yelled in terror, ripping the duct off her mouth and her arms. "Lola, Loeila, no, wake up, no, no, no wake up, Lola!"
When he did, Loeila went completely stiff, before slowly opening one eye.
Greg's heart stopped at the sign of life. "Lola?"
"Da...ddy?" Loeila whispered, slowly opening the other
"Lola!" Greg cried, pushing her hair away from her face. "Lola, oh my god!"
"Daddy I fought I would neber see you adain!" She squeaked tearfully, throwing herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "I fought you wewn't comin fow me! I fought you wewe gonna weabe me hewe!"
"I'm here now," he murmured, stroking her hair softly. "I won't ever leave you, Lola, I promise, I will always, always try to find you."
"Daddy I missed you!" Loeila choked.
Greg couldn't speak. He walked carefully over to the hatch, but to his extreme horror the ladder was on fire.
"Morgan!" He screamed.
A little cough came from his arms. "Daddy, I can' bweathe!"
"Hold on, Lola!"
Morgan appeared below the hatch. "Greg!"
"I got her! Knock the ladder down, quick!"
Morgan ran into the other room and grabbed a walking stick, knocking the burnt weak wood to the floor.
"Morgan, get her out of here! I'll follow!" Greg ordered, looking for a way to get Lola down.
"How?" Morgan coughed.
"Uh..." Greg spied a water bottle in the corner. He ran over and ripped off his shirt, leaving him in his vest. He quickly ripped up the shirt and dampened the fabric, tying it above his nose and mouth before moving to his daughter, who backed away in terror.
Her daddy was going to do the same thing as the bad men?
"No, Daddy, no! Someone help me! Peese, daddy, nooooo!" She screamed, but Greg grabbed her shoulder gently, crouching down.
"Lola, it's okay. It's to stop the nasty smoke going into your body. It will help you breathe, I promise, Lola." He soothed. "See, it's okay, I have it here as well."
Sobbing, Lola allowed the fabric to cover her mouth. Greg grabbed a rope from the trunk and tied it up under Loeila's arms. "Hold onto the rope, sweetie, Auntie Morgan will get you."
"Daddy no!" She wailed as Greg started to drop her over the edge. "Daddy, no stay! Come, Daddy, come!"
"I'll be right down." Greg promised. "You gotta give the wet cloth to Auntie Morgan or she'll get sick."
"Otay..." Loeila whispered.
Morgan grabbed Loeila off of the rope, quickly tying the fabric Greg sent down over her face. Morgan shifted her weight for a moment and one of the floorboards fell through. Morgan yelled in shock and Loeila screamed.
Greg's heart stammered as the two of them almost fell from the floor. "Go, now!"
"Greg, what?" Morgan stammered through the cloth.
Greg ripped the cloth away from his mouth. "Get her out, Morgan, please, I'll be out soon!"
"Greg-"
"Go!" Greg ordered.
His eyes met with Morgan's and she nodded, shifting Loeila on her hip and starting to go.
"DADDY! DADDY! AUNIE MOWGAN, WHY AWE YOU LEABING DADDY! DADDY!" Loeila yelled, but Morgan stopped.
"Lola, listen to me!" Greg called. "You need to keep Morgan safe, okay? You need to promise me that you'll get Morgan out safe, okay? You have to look after Morgan!"
"But…Daddy…otay!" Loeila sobbed as Morgan carried her through the hall.
Suddenly the ash caught up with Morgan and she coughed excessively. Loeila's crying stopped as Morgan stopped, leaning back against the wall as she tried to breathe.
"Aun…Aunie Mowgan?" Loeila asked.
Morgan started to breathe in deeper, her forehead pressed against her chest as she coughed. "Lo…la…"
I can't let her go on her own, but I can't see…oh god, I can't see, I can't breathe, I can't see, oh damn it!
Loeila scrambled down from Morgan's waist, and Morgan's weakening hold tried to tighten.
"It's otay, Aunie Mowgan, I get you out, I pwomise!" Loeila insisted, taking Morgan's hand and looking towards the staircase. The raging fire scared her, but she'd made a promise to her daddy.
She shrank away from the flames but crouched down away from the smoke, pulling Morgan behind her, her little hand tightly attached to Morgan's.
They made it down the stairs before the coughing Morgan collapsed.
"Aunie Mowgan, you can' seep now!" Loeila cried, coughing herself. "Aunie Mowgan, no!"
Morgan coughed once more, her back arching off of the floor.
Lola glanced in fear at the fire burning around her. "Ged up, Aunie Mowgan, peese! Peese ged up, peese, no seep time!"
Around her, the fire grew hotter.
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Nick pulled open yet another cupboard, searching for his daughter. Suddenly an arm started to pull him to the door.
"Hey, hey!" Nick yelled at the firefighter.
"Sir, you have to come with me, now, this house is about to explode."
"What?" Nick cried. "I'm not going anywhere, my daughter's in here, she's three-"
"Sir, if she's in here, we'll find her-"
"No, no!" Nick yelled, but the large fireman overpowered him and pushed him out of the door.
Brass pulled him away towards the cars, where Finn and Russell were waiting. He could just about make up Sara in the car.
"Jim, what the hell?" Nick cried. "Kristy is still in there, my daughter is still in there!"
"So are Greg, Morgan and Lola, but the fire-fighters say that the building is at risk of exploding." Brass said gruffly.
"What?" Nick's eyes widened. "My daughter-"
"Nicky, we know." Brass said.
"What the hell's that?" Nick frowned as a small form appeared in the flames. "It's Morgan and Lola!"
Nick ran back towards the house through the barricade that the fire-fighters had set up as Morgan staggered towards the door, the little girl beneath her dragging her out.
The second they staggered out of the door, Morgan collapsed.
The fire-fighters raced forward and grabbed both Morgan and Loeila.
"The woman, get her to an ambulance now!" one of them barked.
"No, put me down, Aunie Mowgan, Aunie Mowgan! PUT ME DOWN, HELP ME!" Loeila screamed as the fireman tried to carry her away.
"Hey, hey, stop that!" Nick frowned. "Give her here!"
"You're not her father." The fireman stated and Nick's anger flared.
"No, but I'm her Uncle." Nick growled back. "Now, give her to me, you're scaring her!"
"If you think I'm going to five a child, who's just been missing to a man I don't know-"
"Uncle Nick!" Lola cried, seeing him for the first time. "Uncle Nick, peese! Hewp me, I wan' go wib you!"
"Sweetie is this your uncle?" the fire-fighter asked.
"Don't huwt him!" Loeila screamed suddenly. "Peese don' huwt him! Put me down, dus let me go, peese!"
The man frowned, before Loeila let out a bloodcurdling scream and started flaying her limbs about.
"Look, please, man, give her to me, please." Nick begged, and the man sighed, passing the screaming toddler over reluctantly.
Instantly the screaming dissolved into sobs and Nick carried Loeila back over to the cars as Morgan was taken to the ambulance. The paramedics started to come around, handing out oxygen.
"Daddy inside!" Loeila sobbed. "He said me an' Aunie Mowgan had to go to be safe!"
"Okay, we'll find him sweetie, we'll find him." Nick assured her as the oxygen mask was covered over his mouth and nose.
Then, before their eyes, the house was engulfed by a ball of flames.
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One hour later, the fire was out.
"We found no bodies inside."
Finn stood up. "Then you found-"
"We found no people either. We checked everywhere." The man apologised.
Shaken, hopeless and furious, Nick stormed over the one of the patrol cars and pulled Diego Martinez out of the back.
"Where the hell is she?"
"What you talking about, hombre?" Diego smirked.
Nick shoved him against the car and gritted his teeth. "My daughter, hijo de puta! They didn't find her body in there, what the hell did you do with her, you bastard!"
"Oh…" Diego sighed in a sing song like voice with a sickening smile. "Are you talking about after I popped a cap in her head and tossed her out of a moving car?"
"You son of a-" Nick raised his fist aggressively and Diego laughed.
"Calm down, white boy, it's a joke!"
"Well I don't think it's funny!" Nick roared in the guy's face. "Where, is she?"
"She's in the same place that Greggo found the motive for her mommy's abduction." Diego sang.
Nick dropped the man and staggered backwards.
"The basement…you fucking ass, you left her in the basement!"
Nick ran backwards towards the ruins of the house, searching desperately for a trapdoor, yelling to the others to do the same.
Finally he found it. He struggled to lift it up, letting it crash against the floor.
Maybe, maybe it might not just be Kristy down there. Would it be too much to ask for Greg, his 'little brother' to be safe too?
"Kristy? Kristina? Greg?" Nick called, jogging down the stone stairs into the inky black basement.
To his utmost surprise, there was a weak response.
"N…Nick?"
"Greg?" Nick yelled, searching in the dark.
"Kris…" Greg's weak voice whispered. "Go to…your daddy…"
"Daddy?" Kristy's voice rang out in the darkness.
Nick half laughed in utter relief. "Kristy! Kristy, Greg, are you okay? What's happening?"
"Daddy, Uncle Greg's bleeding!"
The innocent statement chilled Nick to the bones. He eased his iPhone out of his pocket and clicked on the torch app. The room was illuminated and Nick's stomach dropped to the floor.
Greg was lying on the floor, breathing shallowly, a splinter the size of half a baseball bat impaled in his stomach.
Kristy had her hands wrapped around a little piece of fabric, pushed against the bleeding wound. A couple of pieces of duct tape lay torn and broken on the floor.
"I need a paramedic here, I found them!" Nick yelled up the stairs, running down.
Kristy looked like an exited puppy told to sit as she yearned to run to her daddy, but she stayed put, keeping her hands over the wound.
Nick instantly took over, adding more, necessary, pressure. Greg moaned and winced. "Thank…you…"
Kristy wrapped her arms around her dad's neck, resting her head on his shoulder and planting a small kiss on his cheek.
"S bad, Nick?" Greg asked with a moan.
"Nah…" Nick said flippantly. "You'll be fine."
"You be fine, Uncle Greg." Kristy added as the paramedics started to come down. As they started to carry Greg away Nick lifted Kristy up and started to follow.
Once Greg disappeared into the ambulance Nick turned to Kristy, who was squinting in the bright sunlight.
"Kristy, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry, Kristy." Nick sighed, hugging her as tightly as he dared without hurting her.
"Why, Daddy?" she asked innocently, looking into his eyes.
"I'm sorry this happened." Nick swallowed, tears leaking from his eyes.
Kristy put her little hand on Nick's cheek and wiped away the tears. "Daddy, no cry. It's no bad anymore. We all gone be okay now."
Nick half sobbed, hugging her closely.
Feeling content, safe and happy for the first time in what felt like years, Kristy rested her head on Nick's shoulder.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"You need to shave."
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