Rating-PG-13 for violence

Part Eight

Thursday, November 8, 2001

12:00 AM

To say that Francine Desmond was exhausted would be an understatement.
She sat alone in her office, resting her head on the desk and fighting
the overwhelming urge to just close her eyes and give in to sleep.
Trouble was, when Francine closed her eyes all she could do was
picture Jenna Stetson lying in a hospital bed with her leg shattered
by a bullet. The mental image affected her more than she cared to admit.

First the kidnapping, the trial, the pictures, the threats-and now
this, she thought. Hadn't that child been through enough for one year?

Surrounding her were mounds of paperwork and background checks on
every teacher at Kenmore Middle School. None of it told Francine one
blessed thing. The interrogation hadn't yielded much either. For a
moment it seemed as though Katie Roberts would cooperate, but then she
began saying "Dennis will make them pay" over and over like some sort
of mantra. Francine had ended the interrogation and walked out,
afraid of doing something to the woman that she might not regret.

A knock on Francine's office door roused her from her fatigued state.
"Come in!" She called.

It was Leonard Murray, one of the newest field agents. He stood there
with a sheaf of papers in his hand, nervously fumbling with his glasses.

"Well?" Francine said. "Anything else on those background checks?"

"Yes Ma'am," Leonard said. "We found out who replaced the history
teacher Mrs. Bryson. It was a Gary Frere."

"Gary Frere?" Francine repeated. There was something strange about
that name, but at the moment her mind was too fogged to think of what
it was. "Have you found out anything about him yet?"

"No Ma'am. That's the other thing I came to tell you.
We need more time."

Now I know why Billy lived on antacids when he had this position,
Francine thought to herself. "You haven't got more time," she said,
raising her voice slightly. "Might I remind you that a little girl is
in the hospital because of this maniac?"

"We're trying," Leonard said.

"Well you'll just have to try harder," Francine snapped. The phone
rang and she picked it up. "Desmond here,"

"There's been an incident at Galilee General," Billy said.

Francine's fingers gripped the edge of the desk. "What kind of
incident?"

"Two men were found dead in a supply closet," Billy said. "A Dr.
Martin Amis and Agent Haverson. Both men had their throats cut and Dr.
Amis' identification is missing."

"Where are the Stetsons?" Francine asked.

"Not located as of yet," Billy said. "The hospital went into lockdown
as soon as the bodies were discovered, so we're pretty sure they're in
the building. We think Gary's brother is holding them; what we don't know is where."

"Gary's brother." The pieces finally connected. "Gary Frere-Billy, I know who Dennis Johnston is."

"Francine, at this point what matters is finding him. This man has already killed two agents and a N.E.S.T. Doctor. Lord only knows what he'll do to the Stetsons. Now I want you to assemble a
team and get down there."

"I'll be there."

12:30 AM

"Oh my God," Lee whispered as he looked at his daughter. Jenna was sitting in a wheelchair,her wrists tied to the metal armrests. Her
head was slumped to one side, her eyes closed and her face puffy and
slightly flushed. . Lee couldn't tell if Jenna was asleep or
unconscious. He checked her pulse, noting that it was weak but
steady.Jenna's fiberglass-encased leg rested on the floor at an awkward
angle and the thin hospital gown she wore had ridden up around her
thighs. There was a stain on the gown too- Lee realized that she'd
probably thrown up on herself--the thought sent nausea racing through
his own gut.

"We're going to get you out of here," Lee said, not knowing whether
Jenna could hear him or not. He began to untie her ropes carefully,
wincing at the pain that shot through his own bruised and bloodied
wrists. It had taken Lee and Amanda almost a half-hour to free
themselves and Lee had the feeling that time was running out.

"How is she?" Amanda asked him,

"Well she's alive." Lee finished untying Jenna's ropes. "I
don't see any additional injuries." He didn't want to think about
possible injuries that he couldn't see right now, not until he could
wrap his hands around Dennis' throat and make him pay for what he'd
done. Suddenly Jenna gave a soft moan.

"Munchkin?" Lee said, patting Jenna's cheek and realizing just how
warm her skin was. "Come on, sweetheart, please open your eyes."
Turning to Amanda, he said. "I think she has a fever-she's burning up."

"Let me see." Amanda touched Jenna's forehead with the back
of her palm, sucking in her breath sharply. "We have to keep her
warm." Despite the steam coming from the nearby laundry, it

was actually pretty chilly.

"Here," Lee said, taking off the fleece pullover he wore over his
shirt. "We can use this." With Amanda's help they pulled the large
fleece over Jenna's head, rolling up the sleeves and pulling it down
over their child's legs as far as it would go. Amanda pulled the leg
rest out from the bottom of the wheelchair and carefully lifted
Jenna's broken leg onto the rest.

"It's not perfect as far as elevation goes," Amanda said, "but it
might help some of the swelling to go down."

"Now all we need to do is get out of here," Lee said. "Dennis could
come back any minute and I don't really want us to be in this closet
waiting for him." Silently he cursed himself for having left his lock-picks
back at the house.

"Here," Amanda said, pulling something out of her own pocket and
handing it to Lee, and he stared at the wallet-sized object in
disbelief. His lock-pick case.

"I don't know why, but I thought it might come in handy," Amanda said.

Lee stared at his wife's face for a moment before pulling her into a
brief but passionate kiss. "Have I told you lately
how wonderful you are?"

"On a daily basis," Amanda said, with a small grin, "But I don't mind.
Now let's get out of here, Stetson."

SMK SMK SMK SMK

"Dammit!" Lee lookedat the out-of-order sign on the freight
elevator. In frustration he slammed his palm against the wall."Isn't
there another way out of this basement?"

"There used to be a regular elevator down here," Amanda said. "But
they discontinued it years ago since everyone used the freight
elevator anyway. The only other way is the stairs, and carrying the
wheelchair would take forever-we can't do that."

"No we can't," Lee said. "But I can carry Jenna." He knelt beside the
wheelchair and lifted Jenna as gently as he could, trying to keep her
broken leg as straight as possible. "Let's hurry. I don't think we have much time."

"How very accurate, Mr. Stetson." Dennis' voice came from behind them.
Lee turned around to see the man holding a gun.

"I would've hoped that this wouldn't have to be done so crudely,"
Dennis Johnston said. "But it seems I have no choice. The only thing
which remains to be seen is who will I shoot first? Your beautiful
wife?" Dennis walked towards Amanda, slowly, a leer on his face. "Or
maybe Mama would prefer to see her child die first."

"Why not let them go and just take me?" Lee said. "I'm the one who put
Gary Johnston away."

"Do you think I'm stupid, Stetson? You all helped put him away."
Dennis' voice was suddenly thick with anger. "He may not have been
perfect, but he was my brother and he was there for me, after what
happened to the other children and after what happened to Marcie…sweet
little Marcie."

"What did you do to Marcie?" Amanda asked.

"Went a little too far." Dennis' voice took on a disturbing
sing-song tone as he reminisced. "Marcie was going to tell people.
Gary couldn't possibly let that happen to me, so he took care of it. Which is why I have to do this for him. So you see it's not really a question of who I will
kill-more of who will be first." Cocking the pistol, Dennis walked
closer. "It's a shame I couldn't have gotten to know Jenna a little
better. She really does look so much like Marcie-so very
pretty. But I guess we can't have everything."

Dennis' finger tightened on the trigger and Lee closed his eyes,
hugging Jenna closer. The sound of a gunshot echoed
through the corridor.

"Lee." Francine's voice. Lee opened his eyes to see her standing
there, gun in hand. Dennis Johnston lay face-down on the
ground, blood seeping onto the floor around him.

"Thank you," Lee said to Francine. Amanda gave Francine a brief hug.

"How's Jenna?" Francine asked.

"She's been better. Right now we need to get some doctors
to look at her." Jenna stirred in his arms, her dark eyes opening
slightly and focusing on his face.

"Dad?" Jenna murmured."Mom?"

"We're both here, Munchkin." Lee smoothed Jenna's tangled and sweaty
hair back from her face as he spoke. "Just rest, you're safe now."

"It's over?" Jenna asked him. "Really over?"

"It's really over," Lee said.

He was glad to be able to finally say those words and know that they
were true.

Epilogue to follow.