Elisa waited on the parapets waiting for the sun to disappear below the horizon. She had to tell the others what she found.
The sun went down and the gargoyles roared awake.
Brooklyn was the first to notice Elisa. "Anything?" he asked.
"Just a hunch," said Elisa.
"Better than nothing," said Lexington.
"Did you find the vehicle?" asked Angela.
Elisa nodded. "It belongs to a woman named Jaclyn Willows." Elisa took out a piece of paper that she had folded in her jacket pocket. "Is this who you saw last night, Angela?"
Angela looked at the DMV photo. She nodded. "That's her, yes."
"Did you confront this woman?" asked Goliath.
"I went over to her listed address, but she wasn't there, only her boyfriend," said Elisa. "He looked rattled. I asked to come in and he said no. I think he's hiding something."
"Then let us find out what he is hiding," said Goliath. "Come!"
Goliath picked up Elisa and the rest of them were on their way.
While Elisa is telling the others what she found
Spencer was rudely awakened by a crash and a loud roar. He jumped at the sound and fell over the back of the sofa. He peeked around to see what was happening. The gargoyle they helped last night was sitting up, looking groggy. He looked around before getting to his feet.
"Uh, hello?" Broadway said. "Anyone home?"
Spencer slowly stood up from behind the sofa. "Yeah," he answered, his voice cracking slightly.
Broadway grinned. He looked down at the floor. "Sorry for the mess," he said, looking at the stone skin on the floor.
"It's fine," said Spencer. He slowly moved from around the sofa, keeping a wary eye on the gargoyle.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," said Broadway.
Spencer gave him a nervous smile. "Good to know." There was an awkward moment of silence. "I'm Spencer. Spencer Terry."
"I'm Broadway," said the gargoyle proudly.
Spencer's lips twisted in an amused smile. "I can see why," he said, looking at the gargoyle's obvious gut.
Broadway looked down at himself, remembering what had happened last night. He took in the gauze and tape plastered to his chest. "You patched me up," he said, a bit surprised. He looked up at Spencer. "Thank you." Then Broadway frowned. "There was someone else here, right? A woman?"
"Yeah," said Spencer, amazed that Broadway could recall what happened. "My girlfriend, Jaclyn. She's the one who found you."
"Where is she?" asked Broadway, looking around. "I want to thank her."
Spencer sighed and shook his head. "I don't know where she is. She hasn't called since early this morning. I think she's gone and done something very stupid."
"Like what?" asked Broadway, tilting his head questioningly.
"Last night, you told her that Tony Dracon shot you," said Spencer. "She got really angry and after you turned to stone, she left. She said that she was going to see the man responsible. I can only assume she meant Dracon."
"What?" yelled Broadway. "Is she out of her mind?"
"I know," said Spencer. "Then this afternoon, some policewoman was at the door asking about Jaclyn. I almost had a heart attack. I thought she came to tell me that Jaclyn was dead or she killed someone."
"A policewoman?" asked Broadway.
"Yeah, some dark-skinned chick," said Spencer. "She was plain clothes, so I'm guessing she's a detective. Elisa something. I only remember the name because I have a cousin with the same first name."
"Elisa Maza?" asked Broadway.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Spencer.
"She's a friend of mine," said Broadway. "Of all of us. She wouldn't have done anything. Angela must've saw Jaclyn. She told Elisa and Elisa came to find Jaclyn to find me."
Spencer hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, this is so bad. Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man. This is not good."
"Actually, it's great," beamed Broadway.
"How's it great?" asked Spencer. "My girlfriend's missing, possibly dead, after she runs after your attacker, the police were here, and now I fouled up the chance of your friend finding you."
There was a tap on the living room window. Spencer and Broadway turned to the window. A second later it opened up and a red gargoyle with a beak and white hair stepped into the apartment.
"Brooklyn!" cried Broadway.
"You're okay," said Brooklyn. "You had us worried."
"Where's everyone else?" asked Broadway.
"Outside," replied Brooklyn. "You gave Angela a major scare."
"Is she okay?" asked Broadway.
"Yeah, she's fine," answered Brooklyn.
A few minutes later, Spencer's living room was filled with the Manhattan Clan and the detective that visited him earlier. Angela was fussing over Broadway, removing the bloody gauze patches from his unmarred body.
"You say she went to Dracon?" asked Goliath.
Spencer nodded, too intimidated to say anything to the large gargoyle.
"We gotta help her," said Brooklyn.
Goliath turned to Elisa. "Can you help us?"
"If you find Jaclyn at Dracon's, no problem," said Elisa. "An anonymous tip should do the trick."
Goliath nodded. "Come. We have work to do."
"Um, excuse me?" Spencer got enough nerve to talk to Goliath. "Can I come along? She's my girlfriend after all."
They all looked at each other. Goliath nodded. "Broadway, you take Spencer."
The gargoyles took off in the direction of Park Manor.
Goliath landed on the balcony of Dracon's office first. He and Elisa could see that Dracon was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands.
"Looks like Dracon's having a bad day," said Elisa with a smirk.
"His day is about to get much worse," Goliath said darkly.
Dracon jumped when the doors to the balcony opened and Goliath and Elisa appeared. "Maza? What are you doing here?" he asked, keeping a watchful eye on Goliath.
Broadway, Spencer, and the others came in, too.
"Great," Dracon said dryly. "What have I done to have the entire gargoyle squad visit?" He looked at Spencer. "Training a rookie, sugar?"
"Drop the act, Dracon," said Elisa. "Jaclyn Willows — where is she?"
Dracon pressed his lips together tightly.
"Where is she?" demanded Spencer.
"I should have known you would have shown up," said Dracon. "She must have made quite an impression on you, Broadway. Then again, Jaclyn has that effect on people."
"You act like you know her more than just a girl who got in your way," said Elisa.
Dracon glared at Elisa. "Hey! It's not like that!"
"Then what's it like, Tony?" asked Elisa.
Dracon looked like he was about to bite Elisa's head off. Instead he sighed. "I guess you don't see the resemblance."
Brooklyn frowned. "What resemblance?"
Angela was the first to notice. "Dracon and Jaclyn — they look alike."
"Congrats, honey," Dracon said. "She doesn't tell anyone if she can help it. Jaclyn's full name is Jaclyn Annelisa Dracon-Willows. She's my niece."
"Niece?" asked Spencer. "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Would you want people to know that your relative's a mob boss?" asked Dracon. "That's why my sister moved to a small town in Pennsylvania. It was safe there. Now I wish that Jaclyn had stayed there."
"What do you mean?" asked Lexington.
There was a tape player on Dracon's desk. "Listen to this." He pressed the play button.
"Tony Dracon, we have unfinished business," said the voice. It was male and a thick Russian accent. "Yes, Tony, you know it's me, Boris. You shouldn't have double-crossed me. I told you I would make you regret it. Right now, I have something very precious to you."
There was a woman's scream of pain. "Tony, I'm sorry," came Jaclyn's scared voice. Spencer let out a haggard gasp. Broadway could see that Dracon was not enjoying this. The gangster wore a grimace as they listened.
"Now, you have until midnight to get the money you stole," said Boris.
"Don't listen to him!" screamed Jaclyn.
There was a curse in Russian and the distinct sound of someone getting slapped. Jaclyn let out a cry of pain.
"As I was saying, you have until midnight to get the money you stole from me and deliver it to Belvedere Castle," Boris went on. "If it's not there by midnight, I'll start giving your niece back in pieces. She has such pretty ears." He laughed. "Remember, Tony, it's your money or your niece."
The tape ended there and Tony shut it off.
"I can pay the ransom, that's not the problem," said Dracon. "I don't trust Boris. He'll kill her even if he gets the money."
"You can't just leave her there!" shouted Spencer.
"I know that!" snapped Dracon. "I haven't figured out what to do yet."
"Then let us help," said Goliath. "She has already helped us. Let us return the favor."
The gargoyles and Dracon working together? Hmm. Review!