Buried Emotions
Disclaimer - See Chapter Eleven (snicker. almost wrote elven. LOTR anyone?)
Chapter Fourteen
Gordon Tracy pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, ignoring the sign indicating where to check in to head towards the back of the hotel.
Julie eyed her boyfriend in confusion. "Gordon? Where are you heading? The entrance is over there."
Grinning, Gordon looked over at Julie. "Gotta check out the pool, Julie. The Olympics are in eight weeks. You need to keep in shape."
"I need to or you go into withdrawl if you do not have access to water?" Julie sardonically asked.
"Same thing," Gordon shrugged.
Julie chuckled as they pulled up next to the entrance to the pool yard. Climbing out of the car, the pair froze when they heard a cry for help. Running quickly up the path, they moved even faster when a child's cry could be heard as well.
"That's Jason!" Gordon said in a panic, pushing himself to be as fast on land as he usually was in water.
Bursting into the enclosed pool area, Julie noted someone in the pool and kicking off her shoes as she ran, dove cleanly into the deep end of the pool.
Gordon spotted an olive green uniform and moved towards where it was exiting. Glancing back at the pool, he saw Julie pulling a silent Robin Eppes and a sputtering Elizabeth to the surface. Elizabeth's week cry for Jason made Gordon move even faster.
Bursting from the service entrance, Gordon saw his oldest nephew being roughly thrown into the back of a battered van. Running as quickly as he could, Gordon was no match for the vehicle as one of the men jumped into the front seat as the other climbed in the back with Jason, and the van peeled away.
Pulling out his cell phone, Gordon pushed the buttons for 911 even as he ran back to the pool yard.
"911 – What is your emergency?"
God, where to start? Gordon thought frantically. "Someone just kidnapped my nephew," Gordon said, sounding much calmer than he was. "Yellow panel van, rust in the rear bumper, partial Kansas plate KYZ 2Y and either a 5 or 6. I couldn't get a good look at the two men, except that they were white. Also, we need an ambulance. My, well, sister-in-law's mother was in the pool, she looks unconscious."
"Sir, our tracking indicates you are calling from the area of the Fairview Inn. Are you there?"
"Yes," Gordon said, entering the pool yard. "I'm in the pool yard towards the back of the main building."
"Police are being dispatched, they should be there within ten minutes. And you said someone was injured?"
Watching Julie begin rescue breathing on Mrs. Eppes, Gordon knelt beside the pair, comforting Elizabeth as he pressed a dropped towel to the bloody cut on the older woman's head.
"Yes, she's around sixty something, I think. It looks like she has a head injury and she was underwater."
"Grammy Eppes fell in," Elizabeth cried. "I couldn't get her out, Uncle Gordy."
"It's ok, Princess," Gordon kissed her forehead, breathing a sigh of relief when Mrs. Eppes began to cough up water and stirred.
"The victim is awake but not lucid. How far out is the ambulance?" Gordon asked briskly.
A siren could be heard in the distance.
"Sir, an ambulance was in your area on a cancelled call. It should be there shortly."
The ambulance attendants entered the yard even as Don Eppes came in, holding his younger grandson. Paling at the sight of his wife on the ground, Don ran over, handing DJ to Julie as he knelt beside his wife.
"What the hell happened?" Don growled even as he tenderly took Robin's hand.
Ignoring Don for the moment, Gordon spoke to the dispatcher. "Call Sheriff Landman in Bailey. Tell her to grab Agent Delgado and get her ass out here. Tell Jeannie Landman that Scotty's son was kidnapped and his mother-in-law attacked."
Gordon hung up as he silently got Julie to handle Elizabeth and DJ before turning back to the injured Robin Eppes.
"She'll be ok," Gordon assured Don Eppes. "And we'll get Jas back, safe and sound."
"We better," Don angrily whispered. "Or I'll tear apart whoever did this."
Gordon silently agreed and then thought of Kate.
She'd probably destroy whoever did this on principal alone. And Scott would finish anything left over.
"Mom, please watch over your grandson," Gordon prayed.
Jean Landman was not a happy camper. She sat on the edge of her desk, the office door closed, reading Keifer Dutton the riot act as never before.
The whole office could hear her anyway.
"You are the most blithering idiot it's ever been my misfortune to come across. Give me one damn reason I shouldn't fire you now, Dutton!"
"Why do you insist I'm in the wrong?" Keifer muttered, reminding Jean of an errant schoolboy far more than an office of the law.
"You threatened to arrest a seventeen year old girl because she didn't have a fruit and yogurt parfait, Dutton! First off, she was only the drive-thru cashier. Secondly, it is feasible for a restaurant to be out of an item. And finally, before you argue that point, yes, it is reasonable for them to be out of a breakfast menu item at nine o'clock at night!"
Jean took several deep breaths before moving to her desk chair and pulling out a hard copy of Dutton's personnel file.
"I can't overlook this one," Jean said. "I'm going to suspend you for -"
Her phone rang and the sheriff picked it up quickly. "Helen, I told you to hold my calls until…WHAT?"
Quickly hanging up the phone, Jean pulled her sidearm back out of the desk and grabbed Dutton by the arm. "We'll talk about this later. For now, go get your uniform on. I need you to man the desk."
Heading out to the main part of the Sheriff's Department, Jean gestured to two men at their desks. "Roy, Gage, grab your stuff, we have to head out to the Fairview. Helen, get Lou over here. We may need a mouthpiece and he's good with the media. As of now, everyone is on duty and no one has a second of free time."
"Baby?" Millie asked, coming in with Daria. She had brought the girls some lunch earlier, having stopped Jean and calming her down before Keifer had arrived. "Is something wrong?"
"You got your piece?" Jean grimly asked Daria, who nodded. "As FBI, you'll take the lead on this."
"What's up?" Daria asked, aware that it had to be serious for a local law enforcement office to so readily surrender command to a federal agent.
"Jason Tracy was just kidnapped and his grandmother assaulted. No status on her condition."
"Oh my God," Millie whispered. "Does Jeff know?"
"I don't know Mama," Jean coldly said, pushing her concern for her best friend's son to the side. "The 9-1-1 call was placed by Gordon Tracy. I have to go." Leaning down, she kissed her mother's cheek. "Stay here. Let Jo run the diner."
Millie nodded dumbly as her daughter and a few other members of law enforcement ran from the building.
In a rare show of compassion, Keifer put his hand on Millie's shoulder. "It will be ok, Miss Millie."
Her lower lip trembling, Millie patted the deputy's hand. "It has to be. It just has to be."
Alan pulled into the driveway of the Fairview and was about to park the SUV when he spotted a variety of emergency vehicles. He drove towards the area, ready to do a quick check before he slammed on the brakes, having spotted a familiar redhead.
"Gordon?" Alan called as he threw the vehicle into park and jumped out.
Kate quickly followed, alarm building when she saw Julie holding a crying DJ and trying to comfort a hysterical Elizabeth. She turned to see her father standing next to the open ambulance doors and her jaw dropped as she recognized the person being loaded into the back.
"MOM!"
Don Eppes turned to see his daughter running frantically towards them. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her into a tight hug.
"She's going to be OK, Katie Bear," Don said, trying to sooth his daughter. "Your mother hit her head and she swallowed some water. But they think she'll be alright."
"Katie?" Robin weakly whispered.
"Mom?"
"I'm so sorry, baby girl," Robin said, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I couldn't…Jason…I'm sorry."
"Jason?" Kate frantically asked. "What about Jason? Mom, what about my baby?"
"Sir," the attendant firmly said. "We have to go. If you're coming, you need to get in here."
"Kate," Don began only to be cut off by Gordon.
"I've got it, Mr. Eppes," Gordon said. "Go. We'll let you know if anything changes."
Kate was shaking as the ambulance pulled away and Gordon put an arm around her, looking over at Alan for mutual strength.
The youngest Tracy son looked grim, having already pinned down a deputy he recognized from his last trip to Bailey and gotten the Cliff Notes version of what had happened.
"Kate," Gordon firmly pushed his sister-in-law into a seat. "Jason's been kidnapped. But we're going to get him back. Do you hear me? We will get your son back."
Kate sat, numb, barely reacting when Julie touched her arm. She looked up and saw her youngest son in the woman's arms and reached out to take her baby.
"We'll get your big brother back, baby. Mommy promises. Mommy promises…"
And at that moment, the brothers knew even the strongest rock could crack as Katherine Eppes Tracy broke into sobs, clutching her youngest son to her chest and weeping as though her heart was breaking…
Which it was.
Kyle Westcott glared at the little kid he had just set down on an old couch. The house, located just outside of the cemetery on the edge of Bailey, used to belong to the groundkeeper for the property. When the man had passed on last year, a yard maintenance company had bid for the contract and most people decided that old man Jenkins widow deserved to stay in the house she and her husband had lived in for thirty five years.
But Widow Jenkins was currently at her daughter's house in Texas, since her granddaughter was getting married and her grandson was coming home from the Army. Kyle had overheard another granddaughter, who was supposed to be keeping an eye on the place for the six weeks "Nana" would be gone confide to her co-worker at McDonald's that she had "checked on it last week and I don't think I have to go back for another week. No one will know – and for God's sake! – It's Bailey! Nothing happens here."
Ya gotta love teenagers.
Mitchell frowned at his kid brother. "You're scaring the kid, Kyle," he muttered. The older man knelt in front of Jason.
"Listen kid, you behave, you get to go home. You don't…well, um," Mitchell stumbled over his words. He really didn't like threatening a five year old.
"You behave or you never go home," Kyle hissed. "I'll make sure you go someplace really bad where people will hurt you all the time, hear me?"
"Is that necessary?" Mitchell asked.
"He's a Tracy," Kyle drawled. "They deserve a slice of the Hell they gave us."
"He's an innocent little kid," Mitchell grumbled, not wanting to upset his brother. He did love Kyle, after all.
"He's a Tracy," was all that Kyle would respond. He glared at Jason once more, even as Mitchell plopped down onto the sofa and turned on the television.
Pulling out a "burner" cell phone, Kyle entered numbers, smiling coldly when a familiar voice answered.
"Missing someone?"
Alan stood up, walking carefully towards the door. Julie placed a hand on his.
"Allaine?" the tiny brunette asked.
"I just need some fresh air," Alan sighed, looking over to where Gordon was seated next to Kate. Daria Delgado was on the other side, carefully questioning her friend as Roy Brackett and Gage St. John, two of Jean's deputies, were setting up listening equipment on the suite's phones.
"You should not go alone," Julie said firmly.
Alan glanced over at Jeannie, nodding when the sheriff gave the gesture first. He mouthed "my suite" and the sheriff nodded once more.
"Elizabeth is across the hall," Alan said, gesturing to the matching suite where he – and where Gordon and Julie were supposed to be – was staying. Elizabeth was supposed to be in the third bedroom here, with her cousins, but when Billy Landman had come out at his wife's suggestion, the doctor had given the hysterical child a mild sedative and suggested keeping her out of what had become the center of action.
"I will go with you," Julie stated.
Daria, having glanced at the door, nodded in approval. Julie had been more focused on rescuing Mrs. Eppes and Elizabeth. The best conscious witness they had was Gordon and with the protective stance he had taken over his sister-in-law, the red head wasn't going anywhere.
Alan quietly closed the door behind Julie and pulled out his keycard to enter the other suite.
Billy Landman looked up from the couch. "You're back?"
"For the moment," Alan grimly said. "Hey, Julie, why don't you get changed? They brought your bags up from the car."
Shivering slightly in the air conditioned room, Julie nodded.
Billy smiled at the young woman. "Elizabeth is in Alan's room," he pointed to the one in the center. "Your bag was put in that one," he gestured at one on the right.
Alan smiled slightly. "Kate insisted I chaperone the two of you."
"Why don't you go check on Kate?" Alan asked Billy once the door had closed behind Julie.
"Hopefully, she'll take something now," Billy sighed.
Alan shook his head. "Until Scott gets here, I doubt it. She's trying so hard to hold it together. I never thought anything could shake up Kate."
"I'm sure your family never pictured this," Billy grumbled as he headed for the door. "I'll be back in a couple."
"I'm sure your patients need you Billy," Alan soothingly said.
"My Dad was on his way to Bailey for Charlie's birthday next week," Billy shrugged. "He's handling the practice until I get back."
Recalling that Billy's father was Chief of Medicine at University of Kansas Medical Center, Alan smiled. Yeah, he guessed the man could mind the store for his son.
Lost in thought, Alan barely noticed when the main phone for the suite rang. He frowned. Most people would call his cell.
Picking up the receiver, Alan just wanted the person to stop calling so as not to disturb Elizabeth.
"Hello –"
"Missing someone?"
Alan froze. "Who is this?" he growled.
"Well, Golden Boy – I'm hurt. You don't recall your old classmate from Wharton's."
"Westcott?" Alan breathed out in disbelief. "You? You did this? You could have killed Kate's mother. And where is my nephew?"
"Uncle Alan?"
Alan sat down heavily at the sound of Jason's tearful voice. "Jas? You ok Kiddo?"
"He's fine and will remain fine," Westcott's hateful voice came back on line.
"What do you want?" Alan asked. "My family will…"
"Not your family. You. In the back alley one block from the hotel. Between the gas station and the car rental place. Fifteen minutes from now – and come alone. You come with me and little Jason goes home to Mommy. You don't, you come with anyone else, and you never see the kid again."
"You've sunk that low as to kill a little kid?" Alan gasped in horror.
"Kill? Nah. There are a lot worse things that can happen to a pretty little boy like that than dying, aren't there?"
Alan felt like he wanted to throw up. He swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll be there. But I swear to God, you don't show…if Jason is hurt – there won't be a corner of Hell deep enough to hide from my family."
"I've already been buried in Hell, Tracy. Now it will be your turn. You have fourteen minutes now. You don't show, you never see Jason again. You said you would do anything to protect your brothers' children. Prove it, Golden Boy."
Hearing the dial tone, Alan stood up grimly and hung the phone back up. He didn't look back as he headed towards the door.
If he had, he would have seen a shocked Julie standing in the doorway to her room.
A/N - Short update. But I wanted to get this out there. And is it summer yet? Some of my fave fan fic writers are students or teachers...And I need someone else hurting Alan. Or Reid. Or Sam...
Alan - So you don't just like to see my family suffer?
CC - No, I also like the pseudo family of Criminal Minds or Supernatural. Oh and Agents of SHIELD.
Alan - There should be enough law enforcement there to do something about you.
CC - Nah. They've seen my new bag. (Holds it up)
Alan (reading the bag) "Please do not annoy the writer. She may put you into a book and kill you."
CC (beaming) - Wanna see my notes for someone at the hospital where I work at annoying me? I really just wanted them to shut up and found this to be the most effective way.
Alan (reading notes and becoming kinda green) - OK, so this will happen in two chapters?
CC - Yup.
Alan - So not ready to post for about two weeks.
CC - Probably.
Alan - So enough time for me to hide?
CC - Alan, Alan, Alan...when will you learn. There is no where you can hide from me.
Alan - Um...review to make CC happy. A happy CC is less likely to hurt me.