Notes

Soundtrack suggestions:

Guillaume finds the couple and they head to the manor:
- Les héros de la résistance — Alexandre Astier, Kaamelott : Premier Volet (starting from 00:27).

-o-

Feeling a pressing call of nature, Claire approached the cabin's door. Hearing the sound of a video, she knew there was still someone there and she sighed in relief. Listening closely, she even knew what kind of videos the guard was watching because she heard the word "Chancla" and then recognized the hysterical laughter of Spanish humorist Juan Joya Borja, better known as El Risitas. Outside, the guard laughed. It had to be one of those parodies made with the humorist's famous interview with the presenter Jesús Quintero. She had seen several who made fun of the Fall, including one who passed El Risitas for an engineer from Isla Nublar's geothermal power plant who had misinterpreted seismic readings, or another where he was an InGen geneticist who was heavy-handed when they created the Indominus, and she was certain that the Burgo Nuevo incident inspired other parodies.

"Hey! I need to pee!" The fallen park director shouted.

Whereas Valentine had not changed post since the afternoon, his colleague had been relieved and replaced by Marigold, one of the estate's guards, whom Mills had loaned to Torres, as the latter needed Hawkes and the other soldiers to patrol the estate's limits. Then killing time by watching videos on his phone, Valentine turned to Marigold. Endowed with a wrestler's physique and a hard look, she was not the kind of woman one wanted to bother for nothing.

"What?" She asked dryly.

"She wants to go to the loo. It would be better if a woman escort her," he said. "Is the cabin part of the estate's heritage?"

"I think so…"

"If they're forced to relieve themselves in the corners, I doubt Mills will be happy."

"Yeah, he might ask us to clean up…" Marigold realized unenthusiastically.

A silence, disturbed only by the songs of a few birds in the nearby trees, settled, before being quickly interrupted by Claire.

"Hey!" The fallen park director yelled. "I know you're there!"

Marigold sighed heavily.

"Come on! Otherwise I think she's going to be a ballbreaker…"

She stood up, grabbed the cattle prod nearby, and handed it to Valentine, who paused the video.

"Take the prod. If her boyfriend gets too close, you give him a shock. Okay?"

He nodded.

"Okay."

Valentine stood up and they headed for the door.

"Step back!" Marigold ordered Claire. "I'll take you to the loo! Tell your boyfriend to watch his step!"

After hearing the fallen park director back away, she opened the door and stepped inside the cabin, followed by Valentine who was pointing the prod forward, ready to fend off any attack from Owen.

"Hey scarface! Come!" Marigold growled.

Claire complied and their jailer grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Hey! Easy!" Owen shouted out.

She didn't answer and dragged her out of the cabin. Keeping his eyes on the keeper, Valentine closed the door and locked it. Marigold led Claire around the cabin.

"That's a pretty quiet place...," she told her once they were behind it.

She pushed Claire forward and then noticed the presence of an old bucket and a rope there.

"There's even a bucket. You are free to use it..."

Then she turned around, giving the captive some privacy.

"Don't worry. I'll hear you if you try to escape…," she told her in a calm but menacing tone.

A few minutes later, Claire was finished and Marigold turned around. She saw her carrying the bucket, in which she had heard her urinate.

"Leave that bucket there."

But Claire continued to walk towards her with the bucket. She was only a few steps away from her.

"Hey, are you deaf?! I told you to leave that bucket! I'll take care of it later."

Suddenly, the fallen director took the bucket with both hands and threw its contents at her jailer's face before dropping it and scampering towards the trees. Marigold, surprised, cried out in disgust as the urine splashed on her head and uniform and quickly wiped her face before turning to the runaway.

"Hey Texan! She's escaping! Warn the others!" She bellowed.

Then she drew her pistol and ran after Claire.

"I'll make you run, ginger!" She screamed with anger.

Moving away from the cabin, Marigold disappeared into the woods, beginning to slide down a slope. She saw the fallen park director slalom between the trunks, stumps and rocks that slowed her run. After grumbling, the jailer rushed forward to catch up with her, smashing through the shrubs and ferns in her path like a charging Triceratops. Hearing her, Claire abruptly changed direction, disappearing behind a huge tree trunk, and Marigold lost sight of her. She groaned in frustration but was surprised by the prevailing silence. She couldn't hear her running. Scarface had stopped and hidden. The jailer slowed down and slowly scanned the surroundings.

"Where are you?! I'll make you regret it if I catch you!" She yelled.

Passing the trunk behind which the fallen director had disappeared shortly before, the guard continued straight, passing between two other trunks. It was then that she was hit in the face by a thick branch. Stunned, she took a step or two back, put a hand to her aching nose, shook her head, moaned, then looked up. She saw Claire standing in front of her, holding the branch high and ready to strike again. The jailer chuckled evilly.

"Nice try but no..."

But the moment she stepped forward with her arms outstretched, ready to grab Claire, Marigold's face suddenly froze, then she lost her balance and collapsed face down. Claire then noticed that she had two darts stuck in her back, those of a taser held by Valentine a few feet away. The fallen director looked at the InGen Security employee in surprise for a moment, then returned her eyes to the estate guard lying between them. As she was still conscious, Claire knocked her out then took her service pistol and her badge. Putting the second in her pocket, she kept the first in her hand. It was then that Valentine threw him some keys, those of the cabin.

"Go free Owen! I need his help to move her body."

Still surprised by this unexpected help, Claire nodded and rushed to the cabin to release her betrothed.

"Claire? What the…" he mumbled when he saw her alone in the doorway, keys and pistol in hand.

"No time to explain!"

He rushed out of the cabin and followed her to Valentine. He gave him a look just as surprised as the one Claire had. When the Raptor Whisperer bent down to take Marigold's arms while the security guard took her legs, he started to sniffle sharply, noticing that the jailer reeked of urine.

"Don't judge me," Claire told him. "I had to improvise with the little I had..."

They led the guard into the cabin and as they tied her up, using the rope found behind, Claire turned to Valentine.

"Why?" She asked in a suspicious tone.

"I listened to your conversation with Torres. In town there is a scared little boy who needs his parents. It changes nothing between us Claire and some of what I told you earlier still stands but I cannot tolerate the kidnapping of a child. We are northeast of the basin and the paddocks. You know how to go to the northern gate?"

The fallen park director nodded.

"And you? What are you going to do?" She inquired.

"I continue to keep watch. If they see that no one is guarding that cabin, they're going to be suspicious. I just hope I'd be already gone when she wakes up... Come on, go! Save your family and get the hell out of here."

The couple nodded and left the cabin, racing towards the trees to disappear among them. At first, they headed west, descending towards the manor while avoiding staying too close to the path. Claire knew that as soon as they passed the Lockwoods' home, they would have to turn right and continue down, until they would stumble upon the estate's limits and some peripheral fence or wall. They would manage to cross it and once on the other side they would continue north, to Orick, which they hoped to reach before nightfall.

Suddenly, Owen heard a branch snap and stopped. Claire copied his example and followed her boyfriend's gaze down the slope they were descending.

Below, behind thickets, they saw a dark figure moving slowly towards them, a human.

One of Torres' minions! They thought.

The Raptor Whisperer crouched and led his girlfriend to their right, in order to bypass the individual.

About two minutes later, they stopped and discreetly observed the slope. They lost hope when they noticed that not only was the man climbing it but also that his hooded head was looking towards their position while his hand firmly held a gun. He had also closed in and if he continued at his current rate, he would intercept them shortly.

"Shit…" Claire hissed.

"He knows we're here…" Owen muttered very quietly while observing the man.

The clothes he wore were not a soldier's uniform but rather black pants and a sweater that could have easily been found in a clothing store. If he wasn't one of Torres' soldiers or one of the estate guards, who was he? Why did this man have a gun and seem to be stalking them?

They went so far as to believe that Valentine's help was part of a plan hatched by the director of InGen Security, that he had let them escape so that they could stumble straight on an assassin tasked with eliminating them in the middle of the woods, out of sight. They were, however, surprised by the fact that the man was carrying a backpack. Why would an assassin in a non-hostile territory bother himself with carrying a backpack?

Whoever the man was, they decided to ambush him, unable to avoid him any longer. If they managed to defeat him, they could take his gun, his phone if he had one, and even more. Claire was curious about the contents of his bag. She and Owen each hid behind a trunk and waited for the man to come.

When he passed slowly between their respective trunks and turned carefully, Owen jumped up first and tackled the individual to the ground like a rugby man. The man, rather slim and of average height, shorter than Claire, was no match in an hand-to-hand fight against an opponent of Owen's build, who snatched his pistol from his hands to throw it further.

"I've got you, you bastard!" The Raptor Whisperer growled while the masked man gesticulated under him.

In her turn, Claire jumped out of her hiding place, ready to kick him in the abdomen or the crotch.

"Oh les connards! Je suis venu vous libérer!" The man suddenly exclaimed.

Having just heard him speak French, Claire became uncertain and stopped.

"Why is that idiot talking in French?" Owen wondered.

The fallen park director crouched down, grabbed the man's balaclava while his eyes looked at her gash. She took it off, revealing the face of the WDMC director.

"Mr. Vuillier?" She recognized him with surprise. "I assume you're the eventual cavalry Santagar told us about?"

"Yes. But it looks like you managed to handle yourself."

"We got help."

"You can let me go, Chabal," Guillaume said to Owen, who was still tackling him.

Claire nodded to her betrothed and he stood up, releasing the former Interpol agent who straightened up immediately.

"But thank you anyway," the fallen park director told him. "Sorry if I nearly burst your balls..."

"It was a misunderstanding," he replied. "And I'm sorry for losing my temper. You surprised me."

"You could have said it was you," Owen pointed out.

"What if they found the tracer and decided to set a trap for me?"

"You score a point..."

Guillaume looked at them both.

"Out of curiosity, where did you hide it?" he asked them. "They didn't search you?"

"If they had found it during their search, we would have slaughtered them," Claire answered.

"Uh, that would have been a bit excessive… Where did you put it?"

Claire smirked.

"Let's say I force-fed the dilophosaur," she replied, before disappearing behind a large tree trunk a few meters away.

"Force-fed the dilophosaur?" The WDMC director repeated hesitantly while he was looking for his pistol.

"Santagar suggested we hide it well on us, somewhere they wouldn't find it even with a thorough search," Owen explained. "However, she had more potential..."

"Owen, could you help me?" She hailed her betrothed.

Guillaume watched the keeper go around the tree and he heard him kneel down, then unbutton something and finally lower a fly. A few seconds later, the director of the WDMC heard Claire giggling, as if being tickled.

"Careful with your fingers, honey... I remind you that we have to be quiet."

"Oh. I think I understand now...," the WDMC director said, averting his gaze from the trunk behind which the couple was hidden.

"He apparently got the idea from one of the Metal Gear..." Owen explained to the Frenchman.

"May Hideo Kojima, that dirty bastard, be praised," the fallen park director added with a touch of irony before letting out a small moan.

"I got it!" The Raptor Whisperer said.

Shortly after, they returned to Guillaume, who handed them a handkerchief in which they put the tracer.

"What do you intend to do now?" he asked the couple.

"Get out of the estate and go to town. Torres is holding our son and my mother at the motel," Owen told him. "If we have to turn everything upside down to find them, we will."

"All entrances and exits must be guarded. They'll catch you before you reach Orick and you'll be back in captivity," the former Interpol agent pointed out. "Your entire escape would have been for nothing."

"He's right, Owen," Claire said. "Even if we go to the basin and tell the keepers what happened, nothing guarantees that we will get help. Remember, we're accused of espionage. If we can't get out of the estate, we have to force them to surrender Sigurd and Cait, and then to let us go. We have to find a way to exert pressure. Anything…"

"Something is going on in the manor's basement," Guillaume said suddenly. "I saw armed guards and vehicles at the entrance to the old factory."

"What does it have to do with us or even InGen?" Owen said.

"A lot of fishy things are going on here," the WDMC director stated. "Mills claims that the conference room in the second basement is closed for refurbishment, one of the walkways leads to an artificial rock wall which I suspect to be the entrance of a tunnel leading to a bunker under the manor, a bunker which contains a lab from InGen's early days, and when I was here two weeks ago, I met Wu. He said he was on vacation but he was lying through his teeth."

"Wu is here?" Claire inquired with great interest.

"It's very likely."

The fallen park director turned to the Raptor Whisperer.

"Here's our way of exerting pressure! We find Wu, take him hostage and exchange him for Sigurd and Cait. We shall also take the opportunity to ask him about the Indoraptor."

"I shouldn't normally approve things like hostage-taking, but if the Indoraptor danger is as great as you described to Mr. Santagar, then desperate situations call for drastic remedies."

From his backpack, he pulled out the two remaining balaclavas.

"If you want to follow me, take them."

They grabbed them and put them on. The WDMC director nodded, satisfied to have found two allies, and put back his. The trio then headed towards the manor.

Heading southeast, they soon enough came within sight of the old factory's platform, where some of the estate's guards were loading crates into vans. They didn't know it yet, but the crates contained the poached animals and specimens already sold, as well as eggs and embryos in special receptacles.

"Mills' men," Guillaume whispered.

"Do you think he's involved in some shady business?" Claire asked softly, her suspicions about the Lockwood Foundation's manager growing every minute.

"I don't trust him."

"Me neither," Owen said.

"Besides, he left the auction an hour in and he hadn't returned when I left," the WDMC director added

"Quite suspicious indeed," Claire muttered.

"What a surprise..." Her betrothed said.

In order to avoid being spotted, they went up a little to the east and quickly crossed the path connecting the old factory to the cabin only a little further. The manor was now clearly visible and they approached its north face, slaloming between thickets and bushes. When they arrived at the base of the house, they began to walk along the facade towards the factory, looking for openings on the first basement. They quickly found one window, under the kitchens, and it was just wide enough to fit someone of Owen's size.

"Il ne faut pas s'appeler Obélix...," Guillaume commented.

Hoping to open it from the outside, they looked for a handle but found none.

"Well, we don't have any choice," the WDMC director realized.

As if guessing what the Frenchman intended to do next, Owen waved his two companions to move aside, picked up a large stone lying nearby, and threw it against the window. The latter, at least several decades old, broke easily.

"Well, that cut short to the discussion...," Guillaume shrugged before letting out a sigh. "Let's move on before someone shows up..."

Hoping they hadn't been heard, they hurriedly knocked down the remaining panes of glass, then, one after another, they slipped through the broken window and dropped down into the dark hallway below, taking care to not wound themselves with the shards.

"If we have to go out, how do we do?" Claire asked once inside, looking up at the window, which was about two meters off the ground.

"We'll give the first one a leg up. You're lucky to have a tall and strong boyfriend like him," Guillaume replied, looking at Owen.

The trio then looked in both directions, studying the long hallway they were in. Guillaume turned his head to the right.

"Over there."

The couple followed him and all three listened intently, ready to neutralize any eventual guards. They soon began to hear the echoes of Gunnar Eversol's voice and gavel.