A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer. Glad you liked it and yes,now comes the ugly part. ;)
Chapter 24
Fiyero was busy talking to Farhidi, so Lieutenant Zetti quickly went back out with a few of his men looking for the woman they only knew as Candy. Elphaba stressed that since the mill owner's family may be out of reach that the brothel worker was probably a target. Still, since they were unsure of Candy's allegiances, Elphaba also told them not to bring Candy into the palace. She wanted the woman held away from Glinda and Bayram or those that were caring for them. Zetti agreed and the soldiers hoped they'd find her before Foster and his men did.
"You really think they'd hurt her?" Corporal Norris wondered as their horses made their way down to the brothel through the Emerald City streets.
"If they did what we think they did with Farhidi then we have to assume so," Zetti told the younger officer. Norris nodded. It wasn't a very pleasant prospect for him, but he knew that people could do all sorts of things when pushed to their limits. Serving in the Gale Force had caused him to grow up, but it also exposed him to the shadier side of the world too.
Soon they approached the brothel to find things oddly silent. Granted, their raid would have scared away business, but the doors were not open and neither were the windows. Zetti looked at Sergeant Duncan. Duncan's shift protecting Larry's house was over and he'd just arrived back when he saw the Lieutenant going back out. He volunteered to join them and Zetti was glad to have him.
"I don't like this," the Sergeant said.
"Neither do I," Zetti admitted.
"We could be walking into something," Duncan told him.
"Agreed. Bock, get back to the Palace. See if Chistery and his fellow Monkeys could lend us a hand," the Lieutenant told him. The Corporal nodded and then turned his horse quickly before speeding off back to the Palace. The other three men dismounted and tied their horses up across the street at the small grocer. Heading inside the store, the Lieutenant pulled the owner aside and asked him a few questions.
"I don't like that look," Duncan said as his commanding officer stepped away from the store owner. The two met up in the quiet front corner of the store.
"We may be too late. The owner says about six men went inside and then the doors were shut and he hasn't seen anyone come out since. This was about ten minutes after our crews left with the records for the brothel," Zetti explained.
"How long have the doors been shut?" The Sergeant asked.
"About thirty minutes. The only thing that makes me think that we might still have time is that if they intended on just killing people, they wouldn't have bothered to shut the doors or hang out inside," the Lieutenant figured.
"Is there a back door? What if they've come and left already out of the sight of the main road?" Duncan wondered.
"Could be, but I would think the sound of gunshots would have disrupted everything out in the bustling streets. No way that happens without it getting back to us. Even so, we're out matched if they have six men in there," Zetti pointed out.
"So, we wait for Monkey backup and then go from there," the Sergeant nodded.
"Seems we have no choice. I don't want anyone to die today. Still, I worry about the people inside. We lose this Candy and we might never get anything out of Farhidi," the Lieutenant frowned. Duncan was about to say something when Chistery dropped from the sky, into the road, near Corporal Norris, who was out front of the grocer. The two soldiers exited the store and saw that Chistery had brough at least nine more of his fellow Monkeys with him. It was probably five more than they needed but it never hurt to have more Flying Monkeys.
"Send some of your men around the back. See what they can see. I want this place surrounded and if we end up arresting people that's what we do. Anyone in there could be a suspect or a collaborator," Zetti explained after bringing Chistery up to speed.
"Yes sir," Chistery nodded and quickly spoke to his fellow Monkeys who then spread out around the building. Duncan and Norris took up defensive positions at the building's front corners with their rifles out. Zetti went to the front door, pistol in hand, and banged on it.
"This is the Gale Force! Open up!" He commanded. He could hear scuffling around inside.
"You have ten seconds to open this door, or we open it for you!" Zetti issued another threat. That's when he heard footsteps approaching the door and he cocked back the hammer of his pistol.
"Open it nice and slow," Zetti ordered. The door slowly opened and out walked Madame Butterfly. She had blood on her dress. That's when Zetti ordered everyone to enter the building and find the men they were looking for.
To Be Continued…