Liz opened the door to her hotel room cautiously, after looking through the peep hole in the door to make sure the coast was clear.
"Let's go," she told Aram, and laden with their overnight bags, they quickly exited the room and walked along the corridor to the rear stairwell. Peering down and seeing no one in sight, they hurried down the stairs together. The stairs brought them to the rear of the lobby near the darkened dining room and double doors leading to the rear garden. While brightly lit, the hallway was empty. Aram motioned to the door and they headed straight for it, after a furtive look toward the lobby. The desk clerk was nowhere in sight. Passing the dining room Aram was approaching the door when a voice spoke up beside him.
"Is something wrong? You're leaving?" the desk clerk asked them, almost colliding with Aram as she exited the dining room.
All but jumping back in surprise into Liz right behind him, he faced the woman. "Ah, no… um, we just need to leave early. Like, now," Aram told her with a quick nod to the rear door.
"Oh I see," she said. She'd seen worse ways of leaving their establishment before. "Let me finalize your bill and I'll credit one of the rooms for the night for you, since you can't stay," she told them helpfully, smiling as she stepped toward the front lobby.
Liz took the woman by the arm, stopping her. "Look, we need to leave quietly and in a hurry. I got word that my…husband… is coming here. And we," she motioned to Aram, "can't have him see us together," Liz quickly told the woman, silently begging her to just let them walk away.
The woman nodded in understanding, and tapped her nose. "Right you are sweetheart. You kids go, and if he shows up, I'll be none the wiser. What does he look like?"
Aram stepped up, "Oh, you can't miss him. Big. Broad shouldered. Blonde. Kinda scary, actually," he told the woman. And turning a little to Liz, he gently pushed her through the doorway behind him.
"Come on… honey, we're going."
###
"Can you stand?" Red asked him, and Ressler nodded. Rolling to his side and gathering his knees under him he rose to his feet, using the small tree trunk to pull himself upright.
"I'm afraid we likely have quite a bit of walking to do before we can get you seen to," Red told him, his hand on Ressler's upper arm.
Standing up as straight as he was able, Ressler gave him a small smile in the dim light of the moon. "Walk in the park, right?" Looking behind them, half expecting a mob of dogs and shouting men to appear in the distance, it was rather disconcerting that there was nothing. But at the same time, it was also a huge relief. He didn't feel like outrunning anyone right now.
Red chuckled and patted Ressler's arm before searching the surrounding wooded ground. He found what he was looking for. "Here you go, this might help," and producing a fairly straight limb that would double quite well as a walking stick and crutch he passed it to Ressler who took it gratefully. Propping himself up on it he stepped away from the tree.
As Red kept pace with Ressler, they walked through the tall trees. A sound reached them from the distance. "What is that?" asked Ressler, turning his head slightly.
"Only the most beautiful sound in the world, my friend. Ocean waves. Crashing against a rocky shoreline by the sound of it. Excellent," he beamed, "but that's not the only good news. Look over there."
He pointed off to the left through the trees. "See it?"
At first Ressler saw nothing but dark trees, until a soft beam of light circled briefly through his field of view before vanishing again.
"A lighthouse," he said, watching through the trees as the distant beam came around again. That small light in the distance suddenly made all the difference to their situation. "Let me have your phone again," he asked Red, who handed it to him. "It should be safe to make a call now."
Leaning on his makeshift crutch, he dialed Liz's number, hoping he wasn't compromising her if she was somewhere she couldn't answer.
"Red? Oh, thank goodness!" she answered breathlessly.
"Guess again," he told her, briefly looking away from Red and smiling as he heard her voice in his ear. In pain and inwardly a little concerned at his predicament, he had needed to hear her. He just hadn't realized how much.
"Ress! Where are you?"
He heard Aram's voice near her. Looking up at the trees as they stood under them he tried to explain their surroundings. "Not sure exactly. We're heading for a beach, underneath heavy trees and we can now see a distant lighthouse off to our left-"
"To the North," prompted Red.
"I heard him, Ress. Okay, north, so Aram and I going to look on our maps for lighthouses on the coast and then we'll start narrowing down where you are. Are you guys safe? What happened that you're out in the open now? Are you okay?"
Ressler leaned on his crutch as she bombarded him with questions, swallowing as another round of pain and nausea threatened. Closing his eyes, he couldn't speak to her without her hearing it in his voice. And leaning further forward, he handed the phone to Red.
"Lizzie, we're heading for the beach and we'll be approaching the lighthouse from the south. We just left a large structure that looked somewhat like an old hospital or prison," he told her while looking to his cohort leaning heavily on his crutch. "The battery on my phone isn't going to last long. We'll call again when we're able to," he finished as he hung up and flipped the phone closed
"Why didn't you tell her?" Red asked Ressler, already having a pretty good idea.
"Same reason you didn't," he told Red, meeting his eyes in the moonlight and without waiting for a reply he began walking again, panting with each step as they headed for the sound of the waves and the distant beacon of light.
###
Having left the Inn, they had headed back to Rockport and parked near the little park they'd been in that afternoon, this time on a smaller side street rather than main road. Afraid of pursuit at first, their fear had lessened somewhat at the deserted roads. There was no traffic to speak of. A soft light shone in their car window from nearby street lights. While Liz had kept the engine running and their windows down for fresh air, Aram had retrieved his laptop from the back seat and plugged it in. From the driver's seat she looked at his laptop screen as they began their grid search again.
They had been searching in this manner for over an hour, their progress slowed by their continual looking around them or in the rear view mirror for sign of the black SUV. It was slow, tedious work. Aram had called Samar, and she and Cooper were also doing the same thing now, pouring over satellite imagery of the Maine coast. But still, they needed to get done faster.
"There's just nothing that looks like what Ressler told me… Where could they be?" she asked him, leaning back heavily in the driver's seat. Looking through the windshield, the stars shone over the ocean, the afternoon clouds having dissipated. She never saw stars like that in the city. The yachts bobbed on the ocean in the soft light of the moon and it was peaceful. It was beautiful. And yet her brain couldn't take it in and truly appreciate it. Thinking again of Ressler's description of what he could see, she was startled as her phone rang. As she retrieved it from her pocket and saw 'Nick's Pizza' she smiled broadly. "Oh, my gosh! We could be about to find out!"
Aram listened as she spoke to Ressler and then Red, and at the word 'lighthouse', he immediately texted Samar the new details, then ran a search on every lighthouse on the coast of Maine. There were lot, but now the search parameters had narrowed. Now they were getting somewhere.
###
"Do we need to stop, Donald?" Red asked him, as Ressler again leaned against a tree and dry retched. He was beginning to wonder just how much further he could walk. But he had no choice if they were to find the road and make contact with someone. To stop would be worse.
"No. I'm fine…I'm just bonding with these trees," he answered Red, drawing himself back up then doggedly putting one foot in front of the other as they approached the coast. He didn't look at Red, and just kept his eyes focused on the ground beneath his feet. He was wanting to get out from under the trees now. Because now every time he stopped as his stomach roiled, he was back in Sitka, Alaska as the withdrawal had started in earnest – as he was being hunted. He was really disliking the similarity. Because that hadn't ended well for him either.
Deliberately forcing his mind back to the present, he spoke to Red. "They should be searching for us" he said quietly, looking back behind them. "This isn't right…"
Red was just as concerned, and shook his head. "I think they're following us. I believe they let us go to find Conrad Lucas. It's the only thing that makes sense."
Ressler regarded him as his pace slowed a little more. "Which means those guys don't work for Lucas."
Eyes lifting to look at the closer beam of light, Red sighed. "Exactly."
"But we don't know where he is," Ressler panted, beginning to slow even more, stepping carefully and leaning on his crutch.
"No, we do not," said Red, then reached his hand out to Ressler's arm. "Donald, let's take a break."
He shook his head in reply and kept walking. Because if he stopped now, if he sat down to rest, he didn't think he'd ever be able to get up and continue.
"Stubborn," Red smiled, and moving to Ressler's left side, he put his arm around him in support. "Well, if I can't get you to rest, I can at least help you get where we're going, my friend."
Ressler looked down at him silently. And lifting his left arm he put it around Red's offered shoulder gratefully. And now the memories weren't of Sitka. Now they were of a fake hospital and Liz holding him up. Turning his head from Red, he looked steadfastly forward and concentrated on one step at a time.
###
"Oh, my goodness…"
Liz looked over at Aram quickly, "What?"
"Look how many lighthouses there are up the coast. There are dozens. That's still a lot of areas to search," he told her, shaking her head. He picked up his phone again and texted Samar, then hit Send.
"What did you tell her?
"I'm having her and Director Cooper search around the lighthouses to the south of Rockport. We will only concentrate on the ones to the north. The car we initially followed from the post office was heading north. Before, um…" he stopped and looked at her.
She nodded to him, "That sounds like a good plan. Come on, let's start with the nearest one. In fact, you know what, let's drive up to it. Keep looking on your computer while we head up there," she told him, finally glad to be doing more than just sitting looking at a computer.
Aram smiled and nodded to her, pulling his seatbelt on. "We're going to find them, Liz."
"We need to," she told him, now pulling out into the street and turning back onto the coast road to head north.
"Because I know my partner, Aram. And he was holding something back. He wasn't telling me everything."
###
The lighthouse was much closer. The beam now visible on the tree trunks each time it came around bringing a soft green glow to the dark leaves. They had turned and were walking slowly and determinedly toward that beacon.
"You going to make it?" Red asked, feeling the agent's weight increasing across his shoulders as Ressler leaned more on him.
Ressler only nodded, saving his breath for walking. I'll damn well make it. Or die trying. He then rethought his choice of words. He didn't feel like dying today or any time soon.
"Come on then, we're getting there."
Ressler soon got his wish. The trees were thinning out quickly now, the space between them increasing as they made their way slowly to the lighthouse. More sky was visible above them, and through gaps in the trees ahead he saw the stars. So many of them. He almost wished he could stop and admire the view, but he couldn't. Wouldn't. He dropped his gaze, again looking at the ground at his feet as they plodded on together.
A few minutes later Red spoke up. "Look, Donald."
As Ressler lifted his eyes he saw it slightly to their left ahead of them. The upper part of a pale white column rising into the sky between the trees, the beam of light shining bright from the reflector as it rotated.
He smiled. And this time he did stop to admire the view. "Think there's anyone in there?"
Red continued looking toward it. "Doubtful. The old ways are mostly gone now and it's all automated. But we may get lucky if this is a tourist lighthouse with a caretaker and a gift shop."
Ressler looked sideways at him. He seriously doubted they'd ever get that lucky. Nodding for Red's sake he exhaled heavily and started walking again.
The trees gave up completely now, the rocky ground too much for their root systems. They walked out from under them and into the open space. The ground was rough in spots with larger boulders making the going more difficult. Skirting around them and keeping to a small pathway that was no more than a soft indent in the dry mud, the ocean lay to their right as the ground dropped sharply away to the water's edge. Inching closer to it, now they saw the entire lighthouse before them. Set on a small rocky outcrop as the waves crashed around its base, the beam lit up their surroundings with each rotation.
Ressler raised his head and looked up at the white structure above them and could have cried with how majestic it looked. He'd never been one for boats and beaches. But that lighthouse, rising tall and protective from the rocky coast was a thing of beauty. Beside him, Red spoke, looking at the agent.
"It gets you right here, doesn't it?" he asked Ressler quietly, pressing his hand to Ressler's heart as they stood together.
Ressler simply nodded. It did.
"Come on, let's go see if anyone's home, shall we?" said Red and they moved off again, making their way carefully over the increasingly rocky ground.
As they approached the base the ground dropped, bringing them closer to the crashing waves on the rocks. Ressler reluctantly had to forego his crutch as the ground was too steep and rocky for it. Unable to walk side by side, Red now walked in front down a small pathway in the rocks, leading them to the base of the tower. Ressler followed, trying not to look at the ocean waves getting closer with each step. So close to them now that their salty spray was catching them on the soft breeze.
What had now become abundantly clear though was that no one was going to be home. There was no home at its base. No car parked nearby. And no gift shop. But still they approached it, needing to see if there was a way inside. Its sheer height would give them what they needed, even in the dark - the ability to see more of their surroundings. And somewhere to shelter.
As his stomach began to lurch again Ressler stopped, leaning against the rocks away from the ocean waves. Red kept walking, unaware the agent had stopped and as Ressler's stomach let loose again he fell forward, landing heavily on his knees. The pain shuddered through him as he dropped to the ground, unable to kneel as he vomited again.
Red's voice came to him now, calling to him in the dark as he came back up the path. And turning his head a little in the criminal's direction, Ressler saw him coming back into view as the beam swept by them. "I'm… okay!" he called out. Grimacing at the effort, he dropped his head as he forced himself to his knees. And as he rose to his feet, gripping the rocks to his left, he looked back up.
And saw an empty path.
"Reddington?" he called out, turning and looking around him. There was no reply.
Taking a few steps down the path, Ressler called again. Still no reply. Looking around wildly now, cursing the fact he had no flashlight, then realizing he had the biggest flashlight in the world in front of him, his eyes shot to the ocean below him. Silently begging that he wouldn't see a body floating, he called out again.
"Reddington! Where the hell… are you?!" Clutching his stomach, he called out again.
Still making his way down the path to the approximate point he'd last seen Red, he scanned the rocks below him as the light came round again.
"Shit! Where the hell?" And as he focused his eyes on the rocks below the path he saw something in the brief beam of light. Red's fedora.
"No!"
He hesitated for two seconds, then sprang into action, his own discomfort ignored. Scrambling down from the path, balancing on the rocks as he climbed down them, he pitched precariously close to the water as he retrieved Red's hat. He tossed it back toward the path, his only thought that the criminal would not be happy if he lost his hat. He suddenly realized the absurdity of that and searched the water. The spray was hitting him full on now, as he stopped two feet from the water's edge.
"Reddington!"
Trying to quell the rising panic in him, he strained to see something. Anything. And when he finally did see it in the beam of light, his heart leapt. Red was floating in the water approximately ten feet off shore.
"Oh, God."
He didn't even stop to think about what he was doing as he jumped into the water to approach the floating form. The water shocked his senses with how cold it was. He hadn't been expecting that. Feeling the rocks below his feet was both reassuring and terrifying as he half swam, half jumped to the criminal. The waves pushed at him relentlessly. A large wave made him jump up as he swallowed salty water and briefly lost sight of Red. Coming down off that wave, he came closer, relieved to find Red was on his back.
Struggling, he reached out his arm, and just as he almost had him another wave came and wrenched him from his grasp. Shit! Kicking with his feet again, ignoring the fire in his belly that threatened to take him under, he lurched forward again and got Red's arm. This time he held fast, refusing to let the water take him from him. But he'd drifted further from shore. Turning around, swallowing more water as another wave hit him full on in the face, Ressler held Red's belt with one hand and refused to let go.
With his fingers hooked in the belt he turned for the shore and began to paddle back. Now the waves helped him, pushing him the way he needed to go. And as he got closer to the rocks, he was acutely aware that he had no way easy to get Red out of the water. There was no calm beach. All he had in front of him were rocks and foam flecked waves crashing against them. Looking into Red's face, he slapped his cheeks, but got no response.
Don't you be dead, you son of a bitch!
The waves pushed him to shore, and now he let them, reserving what little strength he had left. Gripping Red to him, he felt the rocks under his feet again.
"Reddington!" he shouted again, into the criminal's wet face. No response. Blood trickled from his forehead.
Shit!
He was at the rocks and out of time to decide what he was going to do. Trying to keep his feet on the rocks below his feet, he pushed Red in front of him with one hand and grasped a rock with his free hand. He couldn't hold on. If he didn't figure this out fast, they could both drown. And faced with nothing else he could do, he let go of Red's belt, begging him not to float away too fast. Grabbing at the rocks with both hands, now he could pull himself up. His stomach threatening to tear in two, he screamed in pain as he dragged himself up the rocks, landing on his stomach with his feet still in the water. Black dots filled his vision as the dizziness threatened.
Don't you dare! Don't you dare pass out!
Rolling to his back he scrambled around. Reaching into the water, he had a momentary panic that he could no longer reach Red. Pitching even further forward, all but falling back into the water as he did so, he grasped Red's collar and hung on. Another wave hit him, and Ressler could only say a silent thank you as this wave pushed Red back toward him.
Reaching him with both hands now, he pulled him toward him and got his hands under Red's armpits. And slowly, his body trembling in agony, he moved his legs back over the rocks, dragging Red with him. His stomach lurched threatening to let loose, and as he turned his head while still clinging to Red, he lowered his head and vomited again, this time bringing up sea water. Refusing to let go of Red as darkness again threatened to take him under he gasped for air, willing himself to stay conscious. As his head cleared a little, he gathered himself up again, slipping on the rocks.
Slowly, Red came from the water as he dragged him out and up onto the rocks. And still dragging Red he climbed a few feet more before he collapsed, unable to move. Free of the water now, they were just below the small pathway. And still clinging to Red as he clutched him to his chest, terrified the water would take him again, his trembling body gave in and unconsciousness swiftly took him.
###
As Liz drove to the first lighthouse that was north of Rockport, she took her phone out of her pocket.
"I'm calling them. Something else is going on, and I need to know what it is," she told Aram.
He looked up from his laptop, the glow lighting up his dark features. "Agent Ressler wasn't feeling well. Perhaps he got sicker?"
"Maybe. It would be just like him not to mention that," she agreed, dialing Red's number.
It didn't ring. Instead, a tone sounded, and then a recorded message played. "This phone is not in service or is out of the subscriber area. Please try again later." Cold dread crept into her stomach. She glanced at Aram, ending the call.
"Something has happened to them. I just know it," she told him. As they came around the next curve in the road, they saw the lighthouse in front of them. Tall and white it rose above them, its beacon rotating in the darkness.
"Park over there, next to the building," Aram prompted.
Pulling into the parking lot, they quickly exited the vehicle. There was no way of knowing if this was the right lighthouse.
"Ressler! Reddington!" she called, but no answer came. The soft breeze came off the ocean, and as she smelled the salty air, she turned and looked up at the white tower above them. The light rotated, and each time it swept by them it illuminated the area. Dropping her eyes from it, she scanned the nearby trees.
"Ressler!"
"Liz, they're not here," Aram told her, coming to stand beside her.
She turned, looking around and gazed out over the dark ocean. "I know… I know…I just need to find him. Them."
"This was just the first of many lighthouses. Come on, let's sit in the car again and we'll keep looking on the maps," he urged, now putting his hand hesitantly on her back. She nodded, and let him lead her back to the car."
"Aram. Something is very wrong."
###
The night air was becoming colder as it blew in off the ocean. And as it wafted over the still forms on the rocks, Red moved slightly. He couldn't remember where he was at first. Unable to open his eyes with the pain in his head, he slowly realized he was lying near water. The ocean. The salty filled air filled his nostrils. A familiar smell. A beloved smell. And as his body woke up more, he could feel the hard rocks underneath him. Slowly his senses came back and he opened his eyes. And what he saw filled his vision and the memory came tumbling back. The lighthouse rose above him, stark and white in the moonlight as its shining light swept over him. He'd been on the path, about to call Liz and tell her that her stubborn partner was in trouble and was going to need an ambulance when they found them. But he'd dropped the phone, and as he'd reached for it he had lost his footing and gone into the water. That much he remembered. The rest was a blur.
As he moved more he became aware of something else. Arms around him. And someone close against him. Removing the hands from around his chest, he wriggled further forward and turned and saw Ressler lying behind him. They were both soaked. Ressler had gone in after him!
Marveling at the agent's sheer tenacity, he dropped close to him, "Donald!"
Ressler didn't stir. Reaching down, Red felt his pulse in his neck. It was steady, and patting Ressler's shoulder he let him be for now. Reaching up to his own head, his hand came away with a trickle of blood on it. If a blow to the head was all he had to worry about right now, he wasn't doing too badly. Looking at the waves hitting the rocks, it was obvious he could have drowned. He saw something else, and leaning over to grab it, he gave a satisfied little smile and put his fedora back on his wet head.
Managing to gain his feet, he stood and looked toward the lighthouse. He was very close to it. With another glance at Ressler, he decided to chance it and making his way back up to the pathway he followed it carefully, his progress lit by the steady rotation of the beam. As he got closer, a small concrete walk way replaced the path and he stepped up to it, holding onto the railing. The door to the lighthouse was in front of him, and as he approached he could see a padlock glinting in the light. But they'd come all this way, and he was not going to let that small piece of metal stop him.
And reaching down off the pathway, he found a brick sized rock. He'd seen Dembe do this once, and was about to repeat the effort. Lining up his view, he waited for the beam to come around again, and as it did so he threw the rock, landing perfectly on the padlock. And just as Dembe's padlock had done on a mountain top, so this padlock gave way and opened.
Smiling with satisfaction, Red approached now and pulled the damaged padlock from the door. Pushing on it, it swung open giving him access to the lower room of the lighthouse. As he entered he found a light switch and flicked it on. The sudden light hurt his eyes and as he shielded them, he squinted, seeing the spiral staircase before him going up the center of the tower.
"Every journey begins with a single step," he said and started up the stairs. Gripping the hand rail as he climbed, he stopped every so often to catch his breath. After a few minutes, and after passing several small rooms, that were actually just platforms at various heights inside the tower, he reached the upper level. He was right below the light, and could now see out the observation windows. Peering down to the rocky beach he could just make out Ressler still lying where he'd left him as the beam circled. He lifted his gaze and each time the beam came around, looked further out to where they were.
What he saw made him shake his head in disbelief. "Well. This changes things."
Making sure his observation was correct he went to another window, getting a view to the east. And as the beam rotated, he looked again, and got more of a bearing on where they were. And repeating it he went to all four windows, looking in each direction. Satisfied he had a good lay of the land, he began his descent. Going down was much easier and definitely quicker. As he came back down to the lower room, he exited the lighthouse, walking back along the concrete walk way. Slowly he made his way back to the rocks, just as he saw Ressler starting to stir.
###
As Ressler woke, his first realization was that Red was no longer with him. Fearing he'd somehow slipped back into the ocean, he rose to his elbow and looked toward the waves. But as he did so, he caught sight of the lighthouse and immediately saw the change. The lower door was open and light was spilling out from it.
"Donald!"
Relief flooded over him as he saw the silhouette of the criminal making his way toward him. Still laying on the rocks and resting on his elbow, he watched silently as Red made his way back toward him. Reaching for his belly, trying to help the pain, he found his stomach was hard to his touch, bloating slightly. Shuddering, he lay back down as Red came closer and kneeled beside him.
"Donald, I have to assume you jumped in after me. To which I owe you a debt of gratitude. But right now, my concern is for you. It may be harder for Lizzie to find us than we thought, my friend."
Ressler looked up at him, barely comprehending what he was saying. "What…?
Red leaned closer to Ressler. "Listen to me. I climbed the lighthouse to see where we are," he said, looking at Ressler's unfocused eyes. "Can you hear me?"
Ressler could, and nodded. "Yes. Where are we?"
"We're not on the mainland," he told Ressler, placing his hand on Ressler's shoulder. "They're looking for us on the coast, and we're miles from it. We're on an island."
The rocks were digging into Ressler's back as he looked up at Red. And on hearing his words, he closed his eyes. His belly was on fire, his body unable to move for now, and for the first time he seriously wondered if he was going to live through this day after all.