Katherine shifted her stance with agitation. The landlady tried knocking on the suspect's door first, but there was no answer. Kat could hear Reina crying from inside the room, and she wasn't about to stand around and just listen to it.
"Open the door please," Greg requested.
The graying woman hesitated as she fingered her key ring. "I'm supposed to give notice-"
"I'm giving you notice that if you don't unlock that door in two seconds, you're going to have to replace it," Katherine interrupted.
The landlady swallowed as she slipped a key into the lock. Even as Kat leaned forward, Greg stepped directly in her path.
"No, James. If you go in there, you could jeopardize any hope we have of prosecuting her. This chick is messed up, and we have to get her behind bars!"
Katherine balked angrily. "That's my baby in there!"
"And I'm going to get her for you, I swear. Stay here so we don't mess this up."
"So I don't mess this up," she muttered, and shook her head. "Go, Greg!"
Katherine paced a couple of times through the narrow hallway as the older woman followed Greg inside. She stiffened when she heard another woman cry out, and a small scuffle. It was all Katherine could do to stand her ground in the hall, and not burst into the room herself. She gripped her arms tightly across her chest, her breathing quickening as the wait continued.
C'mon, Greg. C'mon, get Reina out of there!
Her head jerked up when the landlady walked out the door, toting a squirming blanket-covered bundle. Katherine surged toward her, startling the poor woman severely. Reina's head poked out of the blanket, and the baby practically propelled herself out of the stranger's arms. Kat shuddered as she clutched her baby, tears automatically rising as Reina continued to fuss.
"It's okay, baby. I'm here now, Mommy's got you."
Letting go of the little girl long enough to get a good look at her was difficult. Reina was scraped up, and her right ear was leaking fresh blood from an injury that had already been bandaged once.
"My poor baby..." Katherine whispered.
"Kat, go!" Greg's voice called out to her from the next room. "Take Reina, and wait in my Jeep."
He doesn't want me anywhere near that Alicia woman, and with good reason.
Katherine turned on heel and stalked down the stairs, her every footstep resounding through the house. She marched outside with Reina, and hopped into the front passenger seat of Greg's Liberty.
Reina reached out to grasp the fabric of her shirt as she turned the baby around to face her. "Daddy?"
Kat pulled the girl against her shoulder, resting a hand on the back of her head. "Oh, honey..."
Katherine's relief to be holding her baby safely in her arms was so strong that she wanted to laugh, but grief was winning the battle for supremacy. Kat rocked back and forth on the seat as tears flooded back down her cheeks. The vacuum of emptiness made the world outside the Jeep fade to nothing as she gave full vent to her emotions.
Reina seemed perplexed. As the baby traced her hand over Katherine's chin, the woman stared into the blue eyes that haunted her. Luke's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Reina," she choked. "I should have been there. I should have been there for both of you. God, I'm so sorry."
Katherine almost jumped a mile when Greg knocked on her window. The man gave her an apologetic look.
"Kat, I'd like to take this woman in. There's a Police Station not ten blocks from here. I could leave her here for them to pick up, but I'm afraid she might try to fly the coop before the cops can get around to her. I don't wanna take that chance. Do you?"
"No," Kat said flatly. "Put her in the back. I promise not to kill her for now, but if she says one word to me, all bets are off."
"I can trust you on this?" Greg asked carefully.
"Just put her in the car, Heffernan, so we can go get Karina and Calley!"
Katherine couldn't help staring as Greg led the handcuffed young woman over to the Jeep. She met the bitter brown irises of her daughter's kidnapper, and visualized herself jumping out of the car to strangle the woman with her bare hands. Reina's presence in her arms was the only thing that kept her from following through with the desire.
As Greg slammed the door behind their suspect, the young woman swore.
"I found her alone!" Alicia proclaimed. "Her papers said that her father was dead; I would have protected her!"
Kat whirled around in her seat to fix the girl with a scorching glare. "She was being protected, you delusional piece of-"
"I told you not to talk to her!" Greg's harsh tone was directed at the woman in the backseat. "Sit back and keep your mouth shut, or I'll hold you in those handcuffs for the next five hours!"
"Greg, drive," Katherine ordered. "Drive or I'm going to hurt her. I'm being so serious right now."
The man wisely put the Jeep in gear, and started off slowly down the road. His nervous glance told Katherine that he was anxious about not having Reina in a car seat.
I don't like it either, but there's nothing we can do about it this second, Katherine told herself. Maybe the station would have a seat somewhere with all their supplies. It's worth looking into.
She folded her arms protectively over Reina in the meantime. "I've got her, Greg, just watch your speed and all the debris."
"I am, James, believe me."
Katherine stole a glance at him as he focused on the road, and she noticed that his hands were shaking. "Are you all right?"
"How can I be?" he asked. "I hung up on Donny because I couldn't bear to tell him about Luke. How are we supposed to break this to them, Kat?"
She trembled involuntarily. "Not like that," she said softly. "We have to find them first. We have to tell them in person."
"What about your sister and Calley? You know they're going to ask about Luke too."
"Let's cross that bridge when we get there, okay? I'd rather only think about the obstacles that are directly in front of us."
The two turtles picked their way through the trees silently, as if they were as much a part of the environment as the grass that sprang from the earth. Mike scratched his shoulder where the material of his clothing was rubbing him the wrong way, and wiped perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand. He and Raphael weren't expending a lot of energy, but they still weren't used to dealing with the heat of the day beating down on them.
You'd think I could handle it no sweat after what we went through in the Congo, but it's easy to forget what that was like. A lot of the irritating stuff fades to nothing when I think about what I got out of it, he mused.
The image of Rebecca feeding Olivia that morning was lingering in his mind, and it made him grin suddenly.
We haven't talked about it much, but I know she'd make an awesome Mom. A kid could learn so much from her.
Michelangelo broke out of his reverie when he felt his brother's eyes, and glanced over to meet his gaze. "What, Raphy?"
"Nothing - you're just quiet. Are you feeling all right?" Raphael asked the last part gruffly, like he was purposefully forcing the concern out of his voice.
"I'm okay. I've told you that the tightness comes and goes. Sometimes it gets hard to breathe, but for the most part, I bet I'm over the worst of it."
Raphael looked at him warily. "Just pay attention to what your body's telling you, okay, bro? We don't have much medical stuff, and the sooner Donny knows about your symptoms, the better he can take care of you. I think that's how it goes."
Mike nodded rather than responding out loud. He was sick to death of answering the question of whether or not he was "okay".
Shell, don't they understand I don't get what's happening to me any more than they do? I've never been more confused in my whole life.
The orange-masked turtle shook off his annoyance, and started paying more attention to the incline they were descending. April had gotten through to them about forty minutes prior, and they were on their way off of the Cliff to meet her. She was bringing Marc's Avalanche, which would have enough room for all the turtles, the girls, and the baby.
Our luggage is sure gonna be a tight squeeze though. We might end up looking like some of those clowns trying to stuff everything in at once. Still, it's better than being stuck here. Spending one night wasn't so bad, except that we didn't know how it was going with everyone else. Now it's all gone downhill again since Donny talked to Heff. I wanna know what Greg said to him. Heff might have to get a piece of my mind the next time I see him.
The purple-masked turtle had been on edge ever since he'd gotten off the phone with Greg. Donny had finally gone to work on his damaged scanner, and hadn't come up for air in hours.
I can't blame Donny for wanting to get it working. What with everything going on and Reina missing-An eruption of hot anger cut the thought short, and he slammed his fist against his other palm. They'd better find her, or the walls of this fort aren't going to pen any of us in. What kind of freaking idiot steals a kid with all that's going on? I guess they have to take an opportunity when it presents itself, he thought bitterly. Makes me wanna throw up though.
They stayed in the denser patches of trees for as long as they could, but couldn't avoid the emerging light of day that was waiting on the other side of the forest. Raphael caught his wrist, and they both hesitated as they were nearing the green lawn of the Park. Leonardo had told them not to let anyone see them coming or going from the pathway leading up to the Cliff, lest they inadvertently lead someone to their hiding place. Raphael had scoffed at the blue-masked turtle's warning at the time, but he appeared to be taking it seriously now.
Mike heard nothing but the light breeze swaying the branches above them and scattering a few loose leaves at their feet. As they started walking again, he trod more carefully to avoid even crunching down on the leaf litter. His eyes began scanning faster as they got closer to being exposed in the open. Mike's hand traced a wooden handle of one of his nunchucks every now and then, like he needed to be ready to draw it with a moment's notice.
Raphael swore softly. "Hold up, Mikey. I saw a flash of color beyond those rocks."
"I don't see it."
The red-masked turtle swatted him across the back of the head as Mike froze.
"Well, what are we supposed to do, Raph? We can't run back the way we came without them seeing us, and there's no cover out here!"
"Then we run a different direction," Raphael insisted, but Mike still didn't move.
He was waiting for his own glimpse of the figure, and cocked his head when he saw her. "Don't run, Raph. I think it's April."
"No, Leo told her not to come in this deep by herself."
"That doesn't mean she listened. C'mon, doesn't it look like her?"
Raphael stared, and begrudgingly agreed. They stood still for a few moments longer, ready to bolt if they needed to, until they were certain beyond doubt. Then the turtles broke out into a fast trot to overtake the woman.
"Guys!" April sounded unbelievably relieved and exhausted at the same time. She threw an arm around both of their necks, completely unconcerned at the prospect of becoming a pancake between the two of them.
"You were s'posed to wait for us further out!" Raphael said accusingly.
"It's good to see you too, Raph."