XI. Through a Glass Clearly
And now abideth faith, hope, and love,
even these three;
but the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians 13:13
"Gin?" Chase called when he walked inside. "You left the door unlocked." No answer. He listened carefully. "Ginger?" The house had an empty feeling to it, but Ginger could just be sleeping…maybe. He jogged upstairs – nothing. Then back downstairs.
Went for Rocky Road ice cream! Chase read the post-it note on the refrigerator. That wasn't right, he thought. Her car was outside. The door was unlocked. Cold needles stabbed him one-by-one straight down his spine. Ginger always locked the door, and she sure as hell didn't walk to the store to get her ice cream.
"Damn it," he hissed under his breath, knowing. Knowing. He went back to the foyer, needles still assaulting him. Chase grappled for his cell phone in his pocket, punched in Ginger's number. Every ring mocked him, until it came to her voicemail.
xx
Rowan felt agitated. She'd just put Luke down in his crib (in the nursery, she was trying to get him used to it) and was now pacing back and forth by the window. The clouds were angry and thick, the wind was brisk and sharp. She didn't understand why this sudden feeling of discomfiture was niggling at her. She stopped, bent to pick up Bruce Lee, then held him to her chest as she pet him, still pacing.
In the back of her mind she thought that the guys should be here soon. They were going to play some pool with Reid, come see the baby. Judy had paperwork to do, Maria was on a roll with a new art piece, and Hope was going to spend a few hours with her brother. Chase and Ginger were having a night in.
"Rowan?" Reid came into the room. He passed Luke's crib, stealing a glance at him before coming to stand next to his wife. "What's wrong?" There was a slightly feverish glint in her eyes. He hoped she wasn't coming down with something. It always happened during the winter.
Her grin faltered. "Something just felt off."
He was about to reply when the telephone rang. Reid went to their bedroom, expecting it to be one of the guys calling to say they couldn't come. "Hello?" He listened to the other voice.
xx
"He took her," Chase said flatly. "That bastard took her!"
He stood on the front porch, looking out passed his driveway. Which way did that asshole go? Where was he taking Ginger? He saw a car coming around the way. It was Dottie's.
"Yes, I know it's him," Chase was saying to Reid. "She never leaves the door unlocked." His voice was deadly calm, but he was anything but on the inside. Chase barely registered what Reid said to him, but he consented, hung up.
Dottie's car pulled up, parked. She got out. "Chase? What are you doing out here in this cold?" The expression on his face stilled her. "What is it? Is it Ginger?"
"Come on, Dottie," he said. "We have to go."
"What happened?"
"I-" A low clink quieted him. His eyes moved down, catching on something shiny. He bent down. Ginger's ring. That bastard tore off her ring.
"Oh, my…" Dottie's voice quivered.
Chase hustled her into the car.
xx
Ginger's eyes flickered in the darkness. Where was she? She felt out of sorts, and there was a tingling in her nostrils. She sniffed, finally got her eyes to open. Only a faint beam of gray light lit her surroundings. She was…in the back of a van. Her hands were tied in front of her, ankles bound. Fear made her heart race. It came back to her. Craving Rocky Road ice cream, deciding to go out and get some. Then Jeffrey putting something over her mouth…
"You're awake."
Ginger's eyes darted upwards. She couldn't quite see him (she was on the left side of the van) but Ginger sensed him move. She licked her dry lips, trying to gather her senses. Where were they going?
"I know this is coming as a bit of a surprise," Jeffrey said from the driver's seat. "But it was the best way sweetheart. A clean break."
Sweetheart? Ginger thought, shuddering. Oh, Chase, Chase, come get me.
"About an hour and we'll be there."
Finally, her voice managed to sound, "Where?"
"Our temporary home," he replied jovially. "Until our son is born."
Ginger broke out into a cold sweat. She was terrified, angry, lost; and really needed to… "Jeffrey?" She cleared her throat. "I…"
"Yes?"
"I really have to use the restroom."
Quiet. Just the sound of wheels crunching against asphalt and the wind battering the vehicle filled the insides. "There's not a rest stop for miles."
She took a breath. "I really have to go, Jeffrey."
More silence. She began to think he was going to completely ignore her until she felt the van veer off course and eventually come to a stop. Jeffrey opened his door, shut it. Then the back doors to the van swung open, letting in gray light that hurt her retinas. Jeffrey was just a dark silhouette before her.
"Now, do not try to run, Ginger," he warned. Jeffrey got in the van and untied her ankles. He had to help her outside.
Her legs buckled, but he held her up. She squinted, looking around curiously.
"I can't…go like this," she said, holding up her bound wrists.
Jeffrey's jaw clenched in frustration.
"I won't run," she preempted him. "I promise." Where was this calm coming from? This ability to do everything but what she really wanted, run and scream. The logical part of her knew she couldn't run anyway. At her very best she did a fast waddle. And with this sleet on the ground? She would trip. Injure the baby!
She tried not to flinch when his fingers touched her skin as he undid her binds. She wasn't lying when she said she had to relieve herself. Luckily, he allowed her some privacy. It was difficult do what she had to do, but she managed, and felt a little better afterwards.
"Okay," she said.
"I'll let you sit up front," he told her, "if you swear you won't try anything rash."
Ginger nodded. So two minutes later they were back on the road with her in the passenger seat, heater blasting on her face, a bottle of water in her hands that she sipped tentatively. Then she noticed that her wedding ring was gone. Her heart nearly stopped. Where? Where was it? Not her ring, the beautiful ring she knew Chase had spent so much time carefully choosing just for her.
"Cold?" Jeffrey mistook her shiver of fear and duress for cold. He turned up the heater. He sighed. "Ginger, my love, we are going to have a wonderful life, you and I."
She hoped the expression on her face remained neutral. Should she try to bring him down to earth, so to speak?
"I knew you were the one the first moment I saw you…"
No, Ginger decided as she listened. If she learned anything during her four year stay in the psychiatric hospital it was that you could not drag people out of their carefully constructed realities; it was a dangerous thing to do. Besides, after what Chase had told her, it was obvious that rationalizing with Jeffrey led to much darker sides.
So, she listened, nodding when appropriate, and tried to keep the terror from consuming her. One hand on her stomach, she knew she had to stay brave and strong for the baby. She did not want to become another of Jeffrey's victims. She would not.
And Chase. Chase would come for her. Ginger knew that without a doubt in her mind or heart.
xx
"Is he sure?" Caleb asked Reid. "Did Jeffrey leave something behind?"
Caleb and the guys had gotten to Reid's about fifteen minutes after Chase called. Reid told them what had occurred; now they were gathered in the sitting room, angry and worried on their friend's behalf.
"He just knows," Reid said.
Rowan was quiet. The baby monitor was next to her, but the animals were upstairs with a still-sleeping Luke, and she knew they'd alert her if anything became amiss. She knew that Ginger being kidnapped was what had had her nerves vibrating uncomfortably earlier. This was awful. What if Jeffrey hurt her? Chase would never get over it. Ever. But she wouldn't think like that, she batted those dark thoughts away violently.
She got up and seamlessly made her way to her apothecary and stood behind the counter where her Book of Shadows was mounted on a bookstand. Rowan got out a small package from a clandestine drawer and set it down carefully. She had a feeling that this particular item would be needed soon. She sighed in the quiet; eyeing the baby monitor a hand's reach away. All was quiet in Luke's room, though she could hear the occasionally snuffling of Erwin and the tinkling of Bruce Lee's bell when he shifted.
"Hey."
Rowan looked up to see a concerned Reid next to her. She must have really drifted off. He tucked her hair behind her ear, pulled her into a hug.
"What's this?" he asked, indicating to the small box.
"It's-" Rowan paused, sat up straighter. "They're here."
xx
Chase wasn't surprised to see everyone already present, including Gabriel. Rowan embraced Dottie who was doing well keeping it together but the sniffles came back once the younger woman hugged her. Rowan kept her arm around her when they sat down on the couch.
"Do you know when she was going to leave?" Hunter asked.
Chase shook his head. He was clutching Ginger's ring in his sweaty palm. He didn't know how long ago Ginger was taken. It'd been forty-five minutes since he discovered her gone, so add that in with time-unknown.
"He threw away her ring," Dottie said sadly. "Just tossed it away."
Chase clarified, "Jeffrey took Ginger's ring off, and threw it on the ground."
They nodded.
"Can I…?" Rowan asked gently. She stood up. "Maybe I'll see something."
After a pause, Chase gave her the ring. Rowan was instantly branded with wishy-washy images that amalgamated into a stop-and-start scene of Jeffrey dragging a sedated Ginger to the back of a blue van, then sliding the ring off of her finger. The loud bang of the van's doors closing made her visibly startle (Reid stood closely to her now, noticing her ashen pallor), the ring falling to the ground…Jeffrey driving off…
Reid helped her sit back down, feeling her shivers. He took the ring from her, gave it back to Chase.
"He used chloroform on her," Rowan uttered quietly. "Put her in the back of a blue van." Pause, then, "Three hours ago."
"So, he's had a four-hour head start," Chase said.
Don't try anything more, Row, please, Reid communicated.
She nodded. It'd been months since she'd felt such strong energy via psychometry that the tingling feeling it sometimes left her with was taking some getting used to.
"I have to find her," he said.
"Shouldn't we call the police?" Dottie spoke.
Chase shook his head. "That would take too long."
"I have something," Rowan said.
"Rowan," Reid said.
"Lil Bit, no," Caleb said.
Both were assuming that Rowan was saying she would track for them, but when she got up and left the room and came back momentarily with a small package in her hand they began to change their minds.
"It's very delicate," she spoke.
"What is it?" Tyler asked.
"A Light. Capital 'L.' You open it nearest the place where finding what you want would be easiest-"
"Chase's driveway," Pogue interjected, and Rowan nodded.
"Then you follow it. These little things are very sensitive, very temperamental. They respond to emotions. So if you get frustrated and decide to verbally insult it, it will likely get upset and abandon you."
"Lux Invenio," Gabriel said. "Where did you get that, pichouette?" The Cajun sorcerer said that they were extremely rare, extremely difficult to procure, and very expensive to purchase if that was your want.
"It was a gift," Rowan replied. She held it out to Chase. "Use it. I'm sorry I can't track for you." Reid put his arm around her waist, giving her a squeeze of assurance.
Rowan looked at them all.
"Let's go," Caleb said.
"I can teleport you back to your place," Gabriel told him. "Save you some time."
"Chase?" Dottie said, standing in front of him now. "You bring Ginger and the baby back to us, all right?"
"I will, Dottie."
The guys were getting their jackets on; Hunter would stay behind with Rowan and Dottie. Outside, they piled into Tyler's car. He had traded in his Hummer for an SUV the week he'd gotten his doctoral license, arguing that it was a more appropriate vehicle for a doctor.
Reid settled in the driver's seat, Chase in the passenger's. Tyler and Caleb took the middle, Pogue sat in the back. Gabriel asked them if they were ready, and when he got the go-ahead he teleported them to Chase's home.
"God, I hate that," Reid complained, cracking his neck to get rid of the post-teleportation feeling.
Gabriel waved and was gone.
Reid looked to Chase. "Ready?"
He said nothing. He rolled down the window, opened the box. A flash of nova-bright light erupted, then condensed into the size of a golf ball. It hovered, then moved so it was a few feet in front of the vehicle. Chase hit the button so the window went back up.
"When does it go?" Tyler asked aloud.
Reid started the car.
"You guys don't have to come," Chase said.
"Hypothetical question," Reid put out there while they waited for the ball of light to make a move. "When Rowan said it responds to emotions, did she mean that calling someone a 'hard-headed dipshit' is off limits?"
Pogue frowned, shook his head. Caleb rolled his eyes.
"You want to risk it?" Tyler rejoined.
Reid shrugged. "I don't know. It would be directed to the hard-headed dipshit in the passenger seat, but-"
"Look, I'm just saying," Chase interrupted. "Ginger is my wife, and-"
"And you can't go do this alone," Reid snapped. "You're a puddle of shit right now. We all would be if it were one of our wives. Which is exactly why we come along when one is in trouble. And it's also why you're not in the driver's seat."
"What does the driver's seat have to do with anything?" Pogue added.
"He wants to drive, I can tell," Reid said. "But he'd crash the damned car if he was. You guys know the rules." That was true. Whoever's significant other was in the line of fire, that particular husband did not drive if driving was necessary. It widened the margin of safety and rescue.
Chase's jaw clenched. Reid was right, though he wouldn't say it aloud. His mind was reeling, no one could blame him. These guys knew what it was like to have a wife (or sister) in mortal danger. A place they'd all been more than once.
"Hey, it's moving," Caleb announced.
"Finally," Reid mumbled.
He depressed the gas pedal.
xx
Ginger flinched when Jeffrey turned the small key in the lock. He brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it. "You understand I can't let you wander just yet, my love."
Fifteen minutes ago they had arrived at their destination, and he had not once let go of Ginger since helping her from the van. She may have been complacent the entire ride with nary a word of protest, but Jeffrey could take no chances. So he led her on a quick tour of the humble cottage before taking her into their bedroom and attaching her wrist to a long bungee cord connected to the bed's headboard. It had a long give so Ginger could walk around the entire room and even use the adjoined bathroom.
"Sit down," he said.
After a moment's pause, she did. He bent down in front of her, almost reverently, that it added another notch of creepiness to the situation. Jeffrey then proceeded to take off her shoes. He aligned them just so to the side before putting ankle cords on her.
"I couldn't bear to imagine you in actual chains, Ginger," he said. "But I do need to restrict your movements."
Ginger nearly laughed. Restrict her movements? She was over eight months pregnant; there would be no running for her. She couldn't even bend over.
"And a gift!" Jeffrey took a box from under the bed. Out came the exact same pair of fluffy slippers that she had at home. "Just like yours." He slipped them on her socked feet. "After I bring in the rest of the things and lock up, I'll make us something to eat." He smiled at her most conciliatory. "Ginger, I'm so happy. Aren't you happy?" He sat down next to her on the bed facing the window. "Out of the city. Away from so many other eyes and ears." Jeffrey threaded his hand through hers. "We can be ourselves, Gin. Can't we?"
His eyes locked on hers more intensely and she realized he wanted an answer. For hours he'd been waxing on like this, not really expecting a reply from her, but now…
"Yes," she stammered.
His eyes narrowed. "You hesitated." Jeffrey stood swiftly. "I heard you hesitate."
"No!" she exclaimed. "I was just…taken aback." Ginger chuckled haltingly. "You have to understand Jeffrey that this is…all of this was so sudden. I had no idea…"
"You had no idea how I felt about you?" he asked incredulously.
She shook her head. "No." Which was the truth, really.
"Oh, I love you Ginger," he insisted. "From the first moment I saw you. I've never met a woman like you before in my life." He gathered her hands up again. "I'll make you the happiest woman. Soon you won't even think about Chase or Dottie or your old life, because we'll have made such an extraordinary one together."
Pressing her hands over his heart, he brought himself closer. Ginger wanted to retreat but the backs of her legs were already touching the edge of the mattress, there was nowhere to go. His lips were a mere hair's breadth away.
"Jeffrey…" her voice wavered.
"Ginger," he breathed.
"I…I have to use the restroom again. Please. Now."
He appeared flustered but let her go.
It was then she realized that there was no door to the bathroom. "Um…"
"I'll go bring our stuff in," he told her. "But you'll have to get used to this, my dearest. Your shyness, as cute as it is, will only become an inconvenience the longer it goes on. I'll be helping you deliver our son, after all." He smiled.
His parting sentence left her with the chills. No way was he touching her son; Ginger put her hands protectively on her stomach. Never. In a moment of panic, Ginger tried to remove the cuff from her wrist, but the band only tightened the more she opposed it. Finally she let out a squeal of frustration, and hot tears filled her eyes. She was alone for the first time so she let them fall.
"Chase," she pleaded under her breath, wanting her husband, his safe, strong arms around her. "Where are you?" Hurry wherever you are. I need you. We need you.
xx
"Tea, Madame Filange," Gabriel said, placing a hot cup in front of her.
"Oh, Dottie, please," she insisted with a soft smile.
"Dottie," Gabriel amended.
Gabriel had stuck close to Dottie the past couple of hours. The elderly lady reminded him somewhat of his late grand-mère and it brought back many fond memories. It was a shame to see this kind woman so upset, but he had no doubt that the Sons of Ipswich would retrieve Ginger and the baby unharmed. The Cajun sorcerer fluffed a throw pillow and replaced it behind Dottie on the couch.
The bubbling of the filter from the elaborate fish tank occupied a couple of seconds of silence as Gabriel took a seat opposite Dottie.
"They're going to find her," he assured her.
"I know. I know. I'm still afraid for her though. It's just her and the baby until they do."
"I've always heard what a strong woman Ginger is."
Dottie smiled. "She is. I know my dumpling is holding up." She took a sip of her tea.
"Ah, look who is awake," Hunter said, coming in from the back door with the animals at his heels. He shucked off his coat and hung it up. It was starting to snow.
Rowan was approaching the opposite way from the stairs with Luke in her arms. He'd been fed and changed and his eyes were roaming wide and alert now. His presence managed to distract Dottie from darker thoughts, the woman beamed.
"Bring him over here!"
Rowan sat next to Dottie and put Luke in her awaiting arms.
"He is adorable!" Dottie crooned. "How's he been doing?" she asked.
"Wonderful," Rowan replied. "The doctor's all say everything is normal, and he's growing like a weed." In six weeks he'd gained two pounds and grew an inch and a half. He was still comparatively small, but healthy. "Are you hungry Dottie? I can make an early dinner. You should eat something."
"Oui, Ginger is going to need you nice and strong," Gabriel added. "Hunter and I will put something together."
He joined his boyfriend in the kitchen. Tippy sat on her perch facing the fish tank (a habit she got from the late Bubbe), Erwin sat on his bed near the fireplace and Bruce Lee settled under the dog's muzzle. The snow fell harder.
xx
The windshield wipers made synchronous arcs, batting away the increasingly heavy snow that fell. The sun would be completely set soon and the temperature was steadily falling with it. The Lux Invenio was making good on its purpose, leading them to Ginger. Not that they hadn't gotten stuck in some traffic on the freeway getting out of the city, but right now, about two hours in, they were clear of most other vehicles.
Reid sped up as the ball of light did. He hoped Rowan was feeling okay. He wanted to call her, also see how Luke was doing, but now likely wasn't the time. At least Hunter, Gabe and Dottie were there with her. He was confident that by the day's end Ginger would be safe with them.
Chase was thinking along the same lines. He'd managed to stay composed during the ride. Since he didn't know where Ginger was he had no mental end point in mind for even a small comfort. But there would be no solace until Ginger was in his arms. Until he saw her with his own eyes. How long would this go on? Was Jeffrey taking her out of state? Across country? Out of the country?
He would follow Ginger to the ends of the Earth, there was no doubt there, but he wanted her safe with him now. And the longer she was away… Chase took a breath. He looked at the ring held between the pad of his index finger and thumb. He remembered the hours of deliberation he'd taken when choosing this. And the look of joy when he'd proposed to Ginger at their favorite restaurant.
I will see that look on her face again, he told himself.
"What are we planning on doing with Jeffrey?" Tyler broke the quiet.
Silence. Reid glanced at Chase.
Caleb said, "I know you want to kill him, and that's understandable. But this guy has hurt a lot of other families, and they might benefit from seeing a long awaited process of justice if we call the police once we get there."
After a moment, Chase replied, "I just want Ginger."
xx
It was fully dark now, almost seven.
It was the first snow of winter and Ginger should have been enjoying it with Chase and Dottie. Jeffrey was in the kitchen making dinner while she, Ginger, was staring out the bedroom window into unfamiliar territory. She dare not ask Jeffrey exactly where they were for fear of incurring his suspicion and subsequent wrath. After her crying bit a while ago she'd managed to get the puffiness of her eyes down before he saw her next. She didn't want to give him any excuses to try to 'comfort' her. Ginger was certain he had meant to kiss her last time, the very idea made her nauseous. Her lips had touched no others but Chase's and Ginger never wanted it to be any different.
"Darling," Jeffrey called, coming into the room. "Dinner's ready."
Ginger looked at him, then held up her wrist. He grinned and unlocked it for her. He guided her to the small kitchen by the elbow, her slippers making a shuffling sound against the wooden floors.
Ironic that if she were home right now, she would be wearing these exact pair of slippers. How did Jeffrey know she had these slippers? Chase had given them to her for her birthday.
How? How do you know? she silently demanded as he pulled out a chair for her.
A bowl of thick vegetable soup was put out for her with a cold glass of water. Ginger could see from the window behind Jeffrey that it was snowing even harder. She stifled a sigh.
"You need to eat Ginger," Jeffrey told her. "Fuel for you and the baby." He took a bite of his own soup.
Against her will, Ginger felt her stomach growl. She did need to eat something and knew depriving herself of food would only do more harm than good. Ginger picked up the spoon and dipped it in the bowl. The soup tasted fine. Despite her fear she managed to consume most of the bowl.
"How did you know I have these slippers at home?" she blurted.
He chuckled. "Gin, I know so much about you. I had to if I was going to make you comfortable."
"I don't understand."
Jeffrey glared at her. "I won't lie to you. I admit that I sped up the courting process by taking…shortcuts." He licked his lips. "I went into your old home…memorized the pictures on your shelves…wrote down the names of the books and movies, then I watched and read them all."
Ginger stared at him, stricken. "You… You went into my home…and…" It was odd, but she felt betrayed again. When Chase told her who Jeffrey really was it shouldn't have been a surprise that Jeffrey's likes and dislikes were a lie, too. Ginger loved having things in common with her friends, and Jeffrey had used her…went into her home and used…
She bolted up from her chair, determined to get to the bathroom before she vomited, but forgetting the restraints on her ankles, she tripped. Luckily, Ginger managed to break her fall with her arms (not without feeling a searing pain in her left wrist) and not have her stomach absorb the impact.
"Ginger!" Jeffrey cried out. He was by her side in a second. "Oh my God! Are you all right?"
At least the nausea had passed. Ginger tried to move her wrist. "I think I sprained my wrist."
"What are you thinking trying to run in your condition?" he chastised, guiding her up and back to the bedroom. "I'll get you an icepack."
Ginger' shoulders slumped. Favoring her injured left wrist, she hugged her middle. "Are you okay?" she quietly asked her baby. "We'll be all right. Daddy's on his way." She sniffled. "I know he is."
He came back two minutes later and instantly went into hyper-concern mode when he saw her tears. Jeffrey crooned and caressed, oblivious to Ginger's true source of discomfort.
"I know just what you need," he said.
Jeffrey went into the bathroom. Ginger heard the water begun to run. A bath? She didn't want a bath. What was that supposed to do, act as a reservoir for her tears? Ginger sniffled, pressed the icepack against her wrist.
"It's ready," he told her.
He acted hands on, guiding her to the bathroom, not wanting her to fall again. They stood by the full tub, teeming with bubbles and Ginger's favorite scent, peppermint. He looked at her expectantly.
"Go on," he prompted.
Ginger's brow furrowed. She glanced at the tub, then him.
"Change, Ginger," Jeffrey said. "Don't be shy."
"I…" Against her will her face turned crimson.
"You can't very well scrub your back on your own." He said it like it was the most logical thing in the world. When she still made no movement, his patience began to waver. "All right, come on. Arms up." Jeffrey took the hem of her turtleneck sweater and tugged upwards. "Lift your arms Ginger."
"I…don't want to change," she stammered, cowering slightly.
Silence.
Jeffrey's stare turned cold. Glacier-cold.
xx
"It's slowing down," Chase said, breaking the silence within the vehicle.
The ball of light was decreasing its speed. The road became more specific and soon Reid was wending his way down a path that led to a small cabin. Lights were on inside, and a van was parked in front of the door.
"Gin," Chase uttered.
"Wait!" Reid grabbed his forearm before Chase could bolt.
"Let go of my arm," Chase ordered.
"He's right," Caleb spoke. "If you barge in, you'll let Jeffrey know you're here and he'd have a chance to hurt Ginger."
The sense of his statement sunk in, Chase relaxed. "Okay."
"We'll circle around," Pogue suggested. "I'll take the battery out of his van in case he tries for a quick getaway."
"Good idea," Tyler said.
Quietly, they got out of the Tyler's SUV. Hours in a car made their legs cramped, and they took a moment to stretch while walking at the same time.
"Me and Chase will go in front," Reid said.
Caleb nodded. "Tyler and I got the back. Pogue's got the van."
Determined, they split up. Pogue went to disconnecting the battery of the van; Caleb and Tyler looked in the back windows of the cabin, Reid and Chase around front. They approached the front door slowly.
Chase tried the knob. Unlocked. He opened it, they went in silently. The place was warm, small. The aroma of cooked food wafted from the visible kitchen. Movement caught their eyes. Caleb and Tyler appeared from a darkened hallway. The Danvers Son gestured his head to the left, where a voice was audible.
Chase led. He couldn't wait anymore. Ginger was here and he wanted her in his arms. They followed him to a bedroom.
"Please, I don't want a bath…" they could hear.
"Take off your pants," a man said.
Chase snapped. "Ginger!" He ran, only registering the scene. His wife in a tank top and jeans, sweater on the floor, bathtub filled, Jeffrey glaring at her ominously – then Jeffrey staring at him stricken, shocked.
A roar of fury sounded, Chase wasn't aware that it had come from him. But he could feel his Power course through his body, and his eyes were black as midnight.
"Chase!" Ginger yelled.
He hadn't let his powers through to the surface in so long. It was heady, invigorating. Jeffrey was splayed against the center of the wall, feet off the ground, eyes rolled in the back of his head, frothing at the mouth. Jeffrey's veins pulsed black and painful, his lips turned blue, and Chase reveled in the agony he was inflicting.
"Stop! Chase!" Ginger shouted.
"No!" Reid held her back so she wouldn't approach him. Startling someone while they were caught up in aggressive using could be harmful.
"He'll kill him!" she cried.
Reid didn't quite see the problem with this.
"Chase, stop!" she demanded. "Please! For me! For the baby!"
He distantly heard his wife's voice, her pleas. But he couldn't get enough of causing this bastard, this asshole who'd taken his wife from him, the pain of his life. And the Power…it felt so good.
"Stop!" she shouted. "Look at me!"
He did. Chase turned his head without letting go of Jeffrey. Ginger was crying, she was upset. He couldn't hear her anymore, but she was saying to stop using his Power like this. He'd gone so long without losing control, he could do it again. Killing Jeffrey wouldn't solve anything, and Ginger just wanted him back.
"Me and the baby need you, Chase. Come back to us."
Chase's grip faltered. Ginger continued to gaze at him, and slowly his hold on Jeffrey loosed. He gathered Ginger in his arms, oblivious to all else.
xx
Caleb called the name of the detective he'd become acquainted with while working at the law firm. He didn't have clear directions to this place, but he told him about Jeffrey, who he was, what he'd done, and that he was here. The detective had heard of him before and said he would get people up there as fast as possible, considering there was a snow storm kicking up. In the mean time, they had Jeffrey tied to a chair facing the wall in the living room.
By the time Reid was ready to call Rowan, however, the cell phones were getting snowed over by the storm.
"Damn," the blond cursed.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Chase asked her. "He didn't hurt you?"
"No. I just fell."
Tyler was inspecting her wrist. "Just a slight strain."
"Here," Pogue said, tossing him a package of bandage wrap. "The guy stocked up on medical supplies."
"Thanks." Tyler ripped it open, took Ginger's wrist to apply it, but she cried out. "What is it?"
"I…" Her hands clutched her stomach. "I… I think my water broke." Pause, then, a furtive nod, "Yes, my water broke."
"Oh, shit," Reid uttered.
Ginger cried out again.
"Are you sure?" Chase questioned.
"Yes!"
"There's no hospital within four hours of here," Caleb said.
"Maybe we can get a hold of Gabriel, have him teleport her," Pogue suggested.
"No," Tyler said, in doctor-mode. "I don't think it's safe to teleport her while she's in labor. Let's get you in bed."
"Ginger!" Jeffrey yelled through his gag, so it came out more like Gin-ner.
"Shut up!" Reid snapped.
He continued to thrash in his chair. "Ginger!"
"Can I please put him outside?" Reid asked.
"No!" Ginger insisted. "No one hurts him." Chase helped her up from her chair. "I will not have my baby born someplace where-" Her words were cut off by the scream from a painful contraction. (All the men except for Tyler visibly winced.)
"In bed. I need warm towels, a bowl of hot water…"
"Wait, wait, wait," Reid said. "You're seriously going to deliver the baby here?"
"Where else?" Tyler rebutted.
"He has a bunch of medical supplies," Pogue reminded. "What do you need?" Tyler told him, Pogue and Caleb went and got it.
Tyler scrubbed in the bathroom. "Time those contractions!" When he was done he dried his hands with a clean towel Pogue gave him and put gloves on.
A crash came from the living room.
"I didn't do it!" Reid called.
"I said you can't hurt him!" Ginger shouted.
"Not even a little bit?" Reid answered back.
"No!"
The guys rolled their eyes.
Back in the living room, Reid frowned at a fallen Jeffrey who'd overturned his chair. (Reid really had done nothing.) "You know, you're lucky the lady has orders, otherwise you'd see what really happens when you mess with one of ours."
Jeffrey stared at him in fright. Something in the blonde's blue eyes struck him as inhuman. Who was this fair-skinned man in his gray sweater, fingerless gloves and black beanie? All of them. All of them were monsters!
Reid scoffed derisively, dragged the chair with a still-bound Jeffrey to a (surprisingly) small empty closet. "In you go." He slammed the door.
xx
In the bedroom, Ginger was (with her good one) grasping Chase's hand in a vise. Pogue and Caleb had put sheets over her waist, set a heavy-duty flashlight on a chair aligned with her…baby, so Tyler could see. Chase couldn't believe that his son was on the way, and that Tyler was delivering it. The eldest Son of Ipswich felt himself instinctively trusting the youngest Son. For all intents and purposes, Ginger's life and the baby's were in his hands.
"You need anything else?" Reid walked in.
"What did you do?" Caleb asked.
"Nothing!" Reid exclaimed. "He fell. So I put him in the closet."
Ginger let go of a whine. "Oh, this is bad energy for the baby…all of it."
"Ah, yeah, that reminds me!" He had shucked off his jacket and left it in the living room with the others, leaving in it a thick stick of incense. He returned with it, waving it like a flag. "Row gave it to me before we left. It clears the air." He used his Power to light it, instantly engulfing the room with subtle flurries of relaxing smoke.
Ginger smiled. "That smells so nice." The contractions had ceased for the moment. Chase blotted her brow.
"I'm going to try and get a hold of Row again," Reid said.
"Leave that incense!" Ginger exclaimed.
Reid's eyes bulged. "It's staying, Mrs. Collins. It's staying." He handed the stick to Pogue. He cringed when Ginger yelled from another contraction. He took out his cell phone and went outside, maybe being outdoors would get some better reception.
The snow was coming down in cotton balls, he didn't know when an ambulance for Ginger or the detective Caleb called would be able to get here. Hunched in his thick jacket he dialed in his home number, stepping this way and that, waiting for a good line, wanting to hear Rowan's voice.
Finally, some twenty feet away from the cabin, reception came through.
"Row?" Reid nearly shouted.
The conversation was garbled, static, but he managed to tell her that Ginger was all right, but in labor. Jeffrey was alive, and locked in a closet.
"In labor?" Rowan's voice crackled.
"Yeah, wait…" The phone cut-out. "Row?"
"Reid? Listen. You guys drive safely okay? Don't drive unless you have to. This snow is insane."
Reid grinned. "We will. I love you." He got to hear her say it back before he lost the connection. He went back to the cabin, where the labor was picking up speed.
"The head's crowning, Ginger!" Tyler announced.
"Holy crap," Reid said.
"All right, one more push," Tyler told her.
"I can't," Ginger groaned, exhausted.
"One more, sweetheart," Chase encouraged. "Just one more."
She sniffled, looking at him and nowhere else. "Just…one."
"Ready?" the doctor asked. "One…two…three…"
Ginger pushed with everything she had. Then she felt an awesome release and collapsed back against the pillows.
Tyler laughed, holding a wriggly form covered in afterbirth. "Do I need to tell anyone that it's a boy?" He cleaned up the baby as best he could with what he had, cut the cord, manually checked his vitals, then wrapped the baby in a blanket and gave him to Ginger.
Ginger beamed. "Our baby, Chase."
He smiled. "Yeah."
The other four guys stood back, watching the new parents.
"What's this Son's name?" Caleb asked.
"After Dottie's late husband," Chase replied. "Abraham."
"Abraham Collins," Reid said.
"Abe for short," Ginger said, still looking at the baby.
So on October 24, 2017 Abraham Gregory Collins was born to the Covenant. To two parents who loved him on sight; on a night when the snow fell as heavy and pure as falling stars.
Okay, I hope that wasn't too corny or abrupt. I know it would have seemed fitting for Jeffrey to have been exterminated, but I figure, you know, since he's human... :)
Thanks for the continued reading and encouraging reviews. (The more the merrier)