American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (26 page)

Cydney was deeply displeased. “But she’s a minor. Isn’t she allowed to have a parent present?”

“She’s not being accused of a crime. We just want to find out, in detail, what happened. I promise I’ll take care of her, Cyd. Please trust me.”

Cydney still looked doubtful and Ethan dared to steal a kiss. “Okay?” he pressed gently.

She sighed faintly. “All right,” she said. “But she’s so fragile, Ethan. I….”

“I know, honey,” he whispered softly, moving to kiss her again but noticing that his son was heading in his direction with two sodas in his hand. He backed off of Cydney. “Just trust me. I’ll take care of Olivia.  And I need you to take care of Tyler until we’re done.”

At this point, Tyler had reached them and handed a diet soda to Cydney, who took it gratefully. Ethan focused on his son.

“Ty, I need you to hang out with Cydney for a while,” Ethan instructed. “I don’t like leaving women alone.  Will you be a gentleman and stay with her while I work, please?”

Tyler looked at Cydney and nodded. “Sure.”

Cydney, still not happy that she was not permitted to be with her daughter while the FBI questioned her, nonetheless smiled weakly at Tyler.

“Thanks, Ty,” she said without much enthusiasm. “Maybe we can go outside and walk around and see the sights. Notre Dame isn’t too far away.”

“Good idea,” Ethan said. “We should be a couple of hours at least.  Come back by five o’clock.”

“Okay,” Cydney cast Ethan a long look as she turned to walk away. “See you later.”

“Thanks,” Ethan winked at her, blowing her a kiss when his son wasn’t looking. He watched the two of them until they disappeared down the main stairwell.

It was a very long, and very emotional, afternoon.   And it was only going to get worse.

***

The police station was about a block from Notre Dame Cathedral.  Cydney and Tyler had walked over to the massive church, taking pictures and daring to go inside.  There was a tour going on that they attached themselves to, laughing between themselves because it was a group of Germans and Tyler didn’t understand one word. Cydney understood what was being said, but mostly, they just wanted to walk around and see the cathedral.

Cydney came to discover that Tyler was a very smart, very considerate young man. He reminded her of Ethan to a fault. When they went through a doorway, he always hung back and let her go first. When they passed by a kiosk outside that had water and sodas, he asked her if she wanted something. He was also very funny, doing a great imitation of their tour guide. Cydney decided early on that she liked Tyler Serreaux very much.  He was a charming kid.

When they were finally finished with the massive structure that was Notre Dame, it was almost time to head back to the police station.  But they still had a few minutes to kill and went to the river walk.  Boats of all kinds were jetting up and down the Seine River and they stood on the sidewalk, leaning against the guard rails as the soft wind blew and watching the boats. 

Cydney asked Tyler about school and he was more than happy to tell her how much he hated math, how much he loved football, and that he and four of his friends had a garage band named “Fun Bags”. Cydney burst out laughing and asked him if he knew what that really meant, to which he assured her that he did. Did his mother approve? No, he said. He told his mother that they just called the band “Bags”.

Closer to five o’clock, Cydney and Tyler pulled themselves away from the river and began their block and a half walk back to the police station.  The wind had picked up a little and Cydney wished she had brought a jacket. It was growing chilly and clouds were beginning to gather overhead.

Arms wrapped around her torso, Cydney listened to Tyler talk about his dream of being a rock star as they walked along the busy street. Cydney admired the architecture as they went along, gorgeously designed buildings that were unbelievably intricate or complicated. Paris was a lovely place and, so far, she was enjoying the trip very much. She couldn’t wait to collect Olivia and get her mind off what had happened over the past few days. 

Tyler was describing his new drum set by the time they hit the street that the police station was on. Cydney listened with great interest although her mind was on Olivia in the building up ahead. There were people coming in and out of the building and there were many cars parked along the street. Just as they neared the police station, she glanced up to see if their limousine was still waiting for them. It was, across the street. The driver even waved at her.

As Tyler chatted and they turned to enter the building, Cydney’s gaze scanned the crowd for no particular reason.  She was just looking at the people. But one person in particular seemed familiar and her pace slowed as she studied the man seated a few feet away with sunglasses on, reading a French newspaper.  Tyler was slightly ahead of her, still talking.  When the man reading the newspaper looked up at her and smiled, Cydney’s blood ran cold. She knew that smile. She had seen it, once, at the museum.

Panic seized her. She began to run after Tyler, shoving the boy towards the police station entrance to get him moving.

“Run, Tyler,” she screamed. “Run for your dad. Go!”

Tyler was startled and started to ask questions but Cydney shoved him again, so hard that he tripped. But he was dutifully picking up the pace.

“Run!” Cydney screamed again. “Get your dad!”

Tyler took off like a shot. Cydney, at a distinct disadvantage in high heels, heard the shots ring over her head and shrieked, running for the nearest cover, which happened to be a tree.  Bullets started flying and the people coming in and out of the Prefecture of Police began screaming and diving for cover.

The tree she was hiding behind wasn’t wide enough and another bullet sang by, grazing the tree before grazing her arm. Cydney screamed and ducked, hand over her arm now beginning to run with a small stream of blood. She could see cops flying out of the police station and beginning to engage in a gunfight.  The bullets were flying fast and heavy now. Crouching as low as she could go, she put her arms over her head and prayed.

Inside the police station, people were shouting, grabbing their weapons, and beginning to empty outside. Tyler ran through the lobby, past the information desk and up the stairs.  He knew where his father was and he could hear the bullets flying behind him.

Terrified, he ran through police officers who were going the opposite way in their quest to take on whoever was attacking the police station. No one bothered to stop a frightened young teenager; they were too busy focusing on the gun battle outside. Just as Tyler reached the interrogation room where he last saw his father, the door flew open and Christophe, J.D. and Ethan spilled into the corridor.  Tyler ran straight for his father.

“Dad!” he hollered. “You’ve got to come! They’re shooting and Cydney is out there!”

Ethan bolted faster than he had ever moved in his life. “Tyler, stay with Olivia,” he ordered. “Get back in that room and shut the door.”

Tyler nodded, terrified, as J.D. unholstered his service weapon and ran past him.  Agents Penryn and Daniels followed very quickly.  Only Christophe was left, shouting in French to one of the men who happened to be standing near him.  It was the watch commander of the swing shift, directing his men to go and see what the trouble was.  Christophe gestured to the man.

“Watch these children,” he commanded in French. “Make sure they stay in that room.”

The watch commander waved him off. “Will do, Inspector.”

Christophe shoved Tyler into the room with Olivia and slammed the door. The two teenagers stared at each other for a moment, terrified, until Tyler finally took a seat across the table from Olivia and lifted his hand in a weak greeting. He didn’t know what else to do.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Olivia replied.

They could hear the distant sounds of gunshot and Olivia looked particularly horrified. “My mom is out there somewhere?”

Tyler gazed into her pretty hazel eyes, not knowing what to say. “Yeah,” he finally grunted.  “But my dad went to help her. She’ll be fine.”

Olivia just nodded and lowered her head.  It took Tyler a moment to realize that she was weeping.  Concerned, he leaned across the table.

“Hey,” he tried to sound comforting but this was a new situation for him; he’d never had to comfort a weeping girl. “She’ll be fine. There are lots of places to hide out there.  Besides, my dad will save her. He does that kind of thing all the time.”

Olivia just nodded, wiping at her nose. She lowered her head, fiddling with the cup in her lap that had once held water. Tyler watched her lowered head.

“So,” he ventured awkwardly. “What grade are you in?”

Olivia looked up at him with her watery eyes. “Sophomore. What grade are you in?”

“Freshman. Do you play any sports?”

She shook her head. “No,” she replied. “But I’m in the marching band and the French Club. I’m also the ASB Recording Secretary.  Do you play sports?”

Tyler nodded. “Football and baseball. I made the varsity team this year for both.”

“You must be really good.”

“I guess so. I want to be like my dad and go to college on an athletic scholarship.”

Olivia nodded and the conversation died.  Tyler watched her for a moment, fiddled with a pen on the table, and then suggested he go see what was happening. Olivia thought it wasn’t a good idea so he sat back down again.  Suddenly, the door opened and a man with thinning hair and a police uniform entered and closed the door behind him. He had a strange look on his face, one that Olivia was uncomfortable with.  When he took out his baton and whacked Tyler over the head with it, Olivia started screaming. 

The baton came down on her, too, and everything went black.

***

Cydney was trapped behind a tree, arms over her head as the bullets flew all around her.  She could hear them ricocheting off the old stone walls of the prefecture. Her eyes were closed and her head lowered, praying that she would live through this mess, when a warm body was suddenly next to her and powerful arms were going around her body. Startled, she started to scream until she looked up into Ethan’s handsome face.

He was in a flack vest he had borrowed from Dulay.  His expression was grim as he tried to hide his bulk behind the tree with Cydney.

“Are you all right?” he asked, ducking his head when a bullet flew into the tree and bark rained down on them

She nodded but her bloody arm said otherwise. “I’m all right,” she said. “I just got nicked.”

He looked at her arm, his jaw flexing with concern as he did so. “It doesn’t look bad,” he looked around, trying to see where they could go to get better cover and not get their asses shot off in the process. “I’ve got to get you out of here.”

“Ethan,” she grabbed him by the collar before he could move. “I saw the museum guard here, the same one who ran off with the guy who stole the Robe. He was sitting on a bench over there.  I think he’s the one doing all of the shooting.”

Ethan tried to look around the tree without getting hit.  “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said. “In fact, the night Olivia was kidnapped, that same guard talked to me out in the parking lot but I don’t remember his name. I think he said it was Joe. I told the cops about him the day the museum was robbed.”

Another bullet sang overhead and huge amounts of bark exploded off the tree. Ethan put his arms around Cydney’s head to protect her, pulling her onto his lap and trying to cover her with his body as much as possible. He leaned back against the tree, looking over to the steps near the entry to see J.D., Christophe and about three dozen cops firing off rounds towards the street.  He yelled to J.D.

“Hey!” he hollered. “Cover me! I’m bringing her back over!”

J.D. acknowledged him, said a few words to the cops around him, and they all began rapid-firing at their target.  Ethan practically picked Cydney up and raced all the way back to the steps, flying into the entry as the bullets zinged around them.  Once inside, they were finally safe and he took a closer look at her bloodied arm.

“It doesn’t look too bad but we’re going to take you to the hospital anyway,” he said calmly. “Let’s go put something on it to stop the bleeding.”

“It’s not bleeding too badly,” she insisted. “I’d really like to see Olivia.”

“She’s fine,” Ethan insisted, pulling her into the station and asking the first person he came across for a First Aid kit. “I left her with Tyler to keep her company. They’re probably having a great time right now, getting drunk and having a wild party.”

Cydney smiled weakly as a policewoman quickly brought out a First Aid kit from what looked like a small coffee bar.  She handed it to Ethan, who pulled out the antibiotic wipes and cleaned off Cydney’s nick.  After the blood was wiped away, it was a tiny little scratch. But there was alcohol in the wipe and she danced around in pain while he tried to clean her up.  He smirked at her as she made faces at the sting of the wipe.  Finally, he managed to get a big gauze pad on her wound.

“Good Lord, woman,” he hissed, throwing away the wipe. “Are you always such a baby?”

She nodded. “Remember what I said? We’re on a path of discovery for us. Today, you’ve learned that I speak fluent French, Spanish, and that I’m a huge baby when it comes to injuries.”

He laughed softly at her. “How did you deal with childbirth?”

She lifted an eyebrow and made a comical face. “Lots of drugs.”

He laughed heartily; she was a character and every moment that passed saw him falling more deeply in love with her.  Since there was no one around of consequence, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply. Then he hugged her tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he murmured, kissing the side of her head before letting her go. “I have to tell you; that really scared the crap out of me out there.”

She gazed up at him with her big hazel eyes. “Me, too,” she said softly. “You were quite the hero coming after me like you did.”

His expression grew serious. “I’d walk through fire for you, Cyd. There’s absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”