Chapter Seven: Without You No Life
Ed swept his flashlight back and forth as he and Wordy jogged through the tunnel. It had opened up enough for the two constables to stand and make better time, but that meant Duglin could make better time too. "Kira," Ed called to their dispatcher, "we're in a tunnel with railroad tracks. Where are we?"
"Brickworks- whole subdivision used to be a brick factory. Red Brick Lane, Kiln Avenue…"
Ed cut off the history lesson with, "What's up ahead?"
"Which way you going?" Kira asked.
"Still heading west," Wordy reported.
"Westbound, tunnel ends in a warehouse," Kira told them. "You're gonna have to go up a level."
Ed increased his pace, growling, "Where is he? Where is he?"
The answer to his question moved away from the wall near the exit and aimed at the two officers. A gunshot rang out and dirt fell from the ceiling as Wordy and Ed ducked down to avoid the shot. Duglin raced away, scrambling up a ladder. Two furious SRU constables gave chase, no one, but no one got away with hurting their family.
Greg Parker forced his rather tattered negotiator mask in place as he stood outside the command truck looking up at the house where his niece was. Usually, trusting his team was not an issue, but it was very hard to hear what was going on and not be able to comfort or protect his shy niece. He'd barely been able to keep it together at Spike's hesitant report that Alanna had likely burned her hands trying to protect his team from Penny's shotgun. The Sergeant forced himself to turn toward the unmarked unit pulling up behind the command truck. He strode to meet the couple who all but tumbled out of the car, frantic to get to their daughter.
Greg held out his hand, shaking their hands as he said, "Mrs. Westler, Mr. Westler, I'm Greg Parker, we spoke on the phone."
Mr. Westler immediately demanded, "Where is she?"
Greg made a partial turn and gestured to the two story house behind the command truck. "She's in the house," he informed both parents, "but we need to be incredibly patient here."
Mrs. Westler protested at once. "We haven't seen our daughter in eight years. You can't imagine…"
The negotiator forced himself to smile at the woman. I most certainly can imagine. After all, he hadn't seen his own son in years either. "I understand," he soothed. "But Penny's exit from that house has to be on her terms, at her pace. If she's rushed in any way, she may freeze up, she may escalate. The only way we can get your daughter out of there safely is if we help her choose to come out." Greg looked back at the house. Patience was very hard to come by right at the moment. For both sets of guardians.
Penny studied her young charge; it worried her that Alanna was so willing to trust cops. "You can't trust them," she hissed. "You can't go out there."
"What? Why?"
"They'll capture us." Penny shook her head. "And what happens after that is…"
One brow arched; Alanna's expression was skeptical.
"Have you heard of Anne Frank?"
Alanna tilted her head, considering. "World War Two."
What? Penny blinked but forged on. "She was a little girl who lived with her family in an attic for years waiting for it to be safe to go outside, because bad people were in charge, and they sent police in to drag people away to barbwire prisons. It was just like hell, but on Earth."
The younger girl didn't cower; instead her expression turned angry. "That was World War Two, Penny, in 1940s Nazi Germany. This is 21st century Toronto, cops don't do that here." Alanna grabbed Penny's hands. "Did he tell you that? Did that jerk who can't even make his own lunch tell you that?"
Penny nearly hit the younger girl. "He protects us! Keeps us safe!" She glared at Alanna. "We have to be brave and wait for Gerald to come back for us."
"Unbelievable," Alanna hissed under her breath, though Penny still heard her.
"Penny, I found out about Gerald," the female cop called. "Do you want to hear?"
Penny pushed herself back up, aiming at the cops as they edged back into the doorway and the female cop spoke. "Yeah," she replied.
"Okay, well, this might sound kind of funny, but we-we don't know where he is."
Alanna grimaced as Penny shot back, "No. No, you've captured him. You had the house surrounded; we saw it on the alarm screens; you surrounded us."
"I know, I know that this seems impossible, but he left."
"Muggle coward," Alanna hissed. She believed them? After what Penny had told her about poor Anne Frank, Alanna still believed in them?
Penny shook with the force of her denial. "No, he wouldn't leave," she spat at the cops.
"Penny, I promise you. There's a tunnel that leads out of the basement."
Penny surged up with an outraged, "You're making fun of me?"
The cops jerked back, the female spreading her hands. "No, I am not. Penny, I would not make fun of you. I know that you're waiting for Gerald to come back. I can tell that you care a lot about him."
Penny couldn't help but nod in agreement. " 'So dear I love him that with him all deaths I could endure, without him no life.' "
The blond male cop murmured, "It's from the book," as Penny pulled back, sobbing.
"He's gone," she whispered, "He's gone. He's gone."
The younger girl abruptly pulled Penny into a hug. Penny was confused; why was Alanna being nice now? She'd made no secret of the fact that she hated Gerald.
"You don't need him," Alanna told her. "They're nice, they won't hurt you." She shifted Penny so the older girl was facing the cops again. "Aunt Jules is the one that's been talking to you; she cares about people. She's really good at understanding and empathizing; Uncle Greg told me so." Alanna pointed at the blond. "That's Sam, he's still the rookie of the team. His dad doesn't like that he wanted to be a cop instead of a soldier but Sam's fitting in now." Another gesture toward the raven haired cop. "Uncle Spike's smart; he works with computers and makes sure that bombs can't hurt people." A shy smile. "He nicknamed me 'Lanna; my brother uses it all the time now." The little girl gave Penny an encouraging look. "See? They're just like you and me…they're people too." Alanna ducked her head. "I want to go home, Penny."
"No, no, no, no," Penny protested.
"I want to see my brother."
"No, your family sent you here to be safe," Penny insisted.
Alanna gave her an utterly incredulous look. "Haven't you been listening?" she cried. She pointed again at the cops. "They're my family, Penny. They didn't send me here and that Muggle you want back took me from them." Penny shook her head in denial. "I'm going home," Alanna announced, standing up.
"No, Alanna, what are you doing?" Penny cried, grasping at the younger girl.
"I want to go home Aunt Jules." Sheer relief painted the faces of all three cops.
Ed and Wordy mounted the top of the ladder, chasing after their prey, closing in. Duglin turned as he ran and let loose a shot at the two constables. It missed, striking the wall of the tunnel behind the pair. Ed returned fire; Duglin staggered but kept running.
"You can't walk out there," Penny babbled, grabbing hold of Alanna. "They're going to send you to prison."
"They won't." Alanna's trust in the cops burned bright in her eyes.
Penny shook her head frantically, trying to get through to the younger girl. "Alanna, you can't walk out there."
Alanna met Penny's eyes, then she jerked free. "I'm going home."
The redhead darted around Penny and out from behind the barricade. Penny followed, raising the shotgun and shrieking, "I won't let them take you away!"
Alanna gasped as she stopped mere centimeters from the cops, the shotgun pointing at her torso.