Blood Ties
Part 11: Flight 754
Part 11:
Henry woke and found the bed empty but the sounds of someone in his kitchen. He lay in bed for a few minutes; just listening. So this is what domestic humans sounded like? He was smiling when his cell phone went off.
"Good evening Correen." He listened to her for a few minutes, "Well, yes that is the plan."
He suddenly frowned and sat up right, "Say that last part again?" His temper flared as he sprang to his feet, "She what!!?"
The bedroom door opened, Jean-Rene peeked inside; "What's wrong?"
"Of all the interfering, annoying, meddlesome ..."Henry had to stop himself from saying what he felt. "I'll talk to her." He ended the call and hurled the phone to the bed. It bounced wildly but didn't break. He made angry sounds as he got dressed and put on his shoes.
"Henry, what is happening?" Jean-Rene asked again.
"Nothing." He brushed by her and grabbed his coat. The door slammed behind him and rattled on its hinges.
Jean-Rene glanced at the phone on the bed and picked it up. There were dents in the plastic body where he had held it. She hoped it would work. She found the last number that called him and pressed CALL.
"Henry? I am so sorry!" Correen said frantically. "I knew this would upset you but...I am just sorry!"
Jean-Rene was frowning at the hysterical woman, "What is going on, Correen?"
There was silence on the other end.
"Correen talk to me, Henry just stormed out of here. What did you say to him?"
"He's not going to like this." Correen muttered as she sighed. "Vicky is going to London."
Jean-Rene was surprised but that was it, "Why would he get upset over that?"
"He told her to stop interfering with his relationship with you."
Jean-Rene was confused, "When did he tell her that?"
"Last night before she arrived at his place; she called him and demanded he talk to her. In short, they had a huge fight over the phone about you. Vicky was all...Well, I don't want to say."
"Look, just tell me why it would matter to him so much."
"Henry is using his trip to London for his book as a way of getting the Crown Jewels. That's what he wants to give you for your engagement gift."
Jean-Rene frowned; there was nothing in the Crown Jewels that had any history for them. His father had worn them; Anne Boleyn had worn them, several others had; but nothing that linked directly to them. That's when it hit her; her heart was suddenly racing.
"Correen he's not going for the Crown Jewels." Jean-Rene could see the object in her mind, "He's going for something else."
"But he said the Crown Jewels."
"It used to be a part of the collection until his father had it removed. It was a four carat ruby. They called it the Emperor's Heart."
"I've never read about it."
"You wouldn't. The jewel was never documented. The story goes that The Holy Roman Emperor sent the Jewel to his aunt; to give her something to sell and have money for herself. The envoy delivering the stone was murdered and the stone ended up in the King's hands. He was having it set for Jane Seymour as part of her coronation. When he found out who had sent it; he had the thing destroyed; or so he thought."
"What happened to it?"
"My brother in the past, Thomas, he got hold of it and asked that the jewel be broken up into four pieces. Thomas gave me a ring with the stone set in it for my birthday; that was when Henry met him. He's not going after the Crown Jewel's he wants that one stone."
"Okay, where would he find it?"
Jean-Rene had to think for a minute; it was such a long time ago and there were so many memories. She stood up and paced for a minute, "It would either be in a museum or a private collection. It's hard to know for sure."
"But it would be in London?"
Jean-Rene shrugged, "It could be anywhere. But that's not the point. We have to stop Henry from hurting Vicky."
"He would never do that." Correen protested.
"Correen, I saw the look on his face when stormed out of here and he is still his father's son; no matter how many centuries have passed. He still has the Tudor temper. Vicky has crossed a line with him; he will not stop until he crushes her. It's their way."
"We have to beat him to London."
"Is there any way you can reach Vicky and warn her not to go?"
Jean-Rene heard the shuffling of papers, "No, her flight left already."
"Correen, did Mike go with her?"
The woman on the other end was silent again. Jean-Rene knew that was a yes for an answer. "We have to stop Henry. I may not like V icky, but she doesn't deserve to die."
"How do we stop him? He's a vampire remember?"
"Yes." Jean-Rene made her way to the kitchen, shut off everything and grabbed her coat. "But h can't fly. He needs a plane to do that."
"So what? We can't hijack his plane."
"No, but we can't just let him hurt Vicky either. We have to do something."
"Like what?"
"I'm still working on that. Come get me; we need to be at the airport asap." Jean-Rene hurried back to the bedroom; she grabbed her backpack, threw a few random clothing items in it.
Jean-Rene hurried to the street. Correen was there waiting. How'd you get here so fast?"
"I was nearby at a Chinese place." Correen looked at her, "Jean-Rene meet Bob."
Jean-Rene turned in her seat and looked at the pudgy, balding man. He looked like an accountant. Bob nodded, she returned it. Jean-Rene glanced at Correen.
"Bob is hack into Air Canada's flight plan and delay his flight, I hope."
Jean-Rene frowned, "You're a hacker?" She eyed the man again. "okay."
They were stuck in traffic as they waited for the car in front to move.
"We aren't going to make it." Jean-Rene looked around, "This is ridiculous."
"Hang on," Correen leaned around her seat, searching the backseat for something. "Found it!" She came up holding a domed shaped object. Taking one end she plugged it into her cigarette lighter and grinned. She grinned at Jean-Rene. And pressed a button. The dome lit up with a bright red light and a loud siren filled the car. Correen put the siren on her dashboard and cars suddenly started to move out of their way.
Correen cut the siren as they neared the airport; she glanced at Jean-Rene. The woman had her hands over her ears. After a few minutes of silence, she slowly lowered them.
"Are you okay?" Correen asked.
"No, I have a migraine." Jean-Rene rubbed her forehead. "God, that was loud."
"Yeah, but it worked."
Correen parked the car in Fly n Go parking and put in money. She grabbed her ticket, ran back to her car and the three of them ran into the airport departure level. People were everywhere and it was a nightmare.
"Okay, now what?" Jean-Rene spotted the departures board and studied it, "There are four flights leaving for London. One leaves in ten minutes, another in half an hour and another in an hour."
Correen looked to Bob; the man was already seated and typing frantically on his laptop. Jean-Rene watched him for a moment, "What is he doing?"
"Finding what flight Henry or Vicki are on. We can't stop them from going; but perhaps we can arrive with one of them." Correen glanced at her, "You brought your passport right?"
"Yeah, I never took it out of my backpack." Jean-Rene shrugged the bag more comfortably onto her shoulders, "I can't afford a flight to London, Correen."
"Don't worry about it."
Bob paused a moment; he looked up. "Vicki's flight leaves in 30 minutes. I was able to get you on; but you're going to have to rush through security."
"He got us on?" Jean-Rene watched as Correen wrote down two set of numbers and ran to the kiosk. She came back a few minutes later holding aloft two paper print outs. "Come on, we have a plane to catch!"
Jean-Rene glanced at Bob, "What flight is Henry on?"
Bob worked a little bit, "He is on a private jet, it leaves ten minutes before your flight.
"Thank you."
He nodded, "Better hurry."
Correen handed the ticket for her car to Bob and grabbed Jean-Rene's hand. She hauled the woman toward the security area. The line up was huge. Correen spotted a wheel-chair lane; no one was in it. She saw a wheel chair to one side.
"How good an actress are you?"
"What? Why?"
Correen grabbed the wheel chair and nodded, "Get in."
Jean-Rene frowned but the look on Correen's face was pleading. "There is no way we are getting through security with all the chains and such coming off you." Jean-Rene opened her bag, put them in.
Correen put her dog collar in the bag and Jean-Rene sat in the chair. Correen rolled her up to the wheelchair line and they were next to be scanned.
"I hope this works," Jean-Rene whispered.
"It will." Correen muttered back.
A few minutes later Correen was running at top speed through the airport, Jean-Rene gripped the wheel chair for dear life.
"What gate are we at?" Correen asked as they whisked by several.
Jean-Rene looked at their boarding passes, "Gate 65."
Correen handled the wheelchair with expert reflexes as they dodged people and suitcases.
"Ladies and Gentlemen this is a final boarding call for all passengers on Flight 754 non-stop service to London England, boarding at gate 65. Last boarding call, flight 754."
Correen rounded the corner and raced up to the gate. "We're here!"
She snatched the boarding passes and showed them to the astonished gate-attendant, along with their passports.
"You just made it." The woman tapped a few keys and handed everything back. "Do you need a hand to the plane? Should we request a wheelchair at Heathrow?"
"No, thank you." Jean-Rene held out a hand and Correen helped her stand. "We can manage."
Correen buckled herself into her seat and Jean-Rene didn't miss the excited look in her eyes. The woman was practically giddy. Jean-Rene gently took her hand and Correen looked at her.
"Thank you, Correen."
She smiled, "You're welcome."
A few minutes later they were taxing down the runway. Correen kept looking around the airplane.
"What are you looking for?" Jean-Rene asked as their pilot gave his speech and the safety video came on.
"Vicky, she is supposed to be on this flight." Correen kept looking.
"It's not use, Correen; there are too many people on this plane. We'll have to look for her later."
Their plane lifted off and Jean-Rene stared out the window as the city of Toronto faded away. She only hoped they were in time to stop Henry from committing a crime.