American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (35 page)

The tour guide was going through his routine about the bloody Christian events and Cydney stopped taking pictures long enough to look out over the arena floor and imagine all of the deaths that took place there.  If she believed in ghosts, this would have been a spectacular place for them.

Tyler had bolted to the other side of the group to investigate the passages where the gladiators used to congregate before going out into the arena. There were small sections that tourists could visit. Cydney followed him, as did Christophe and his book, and Tyler insisted that Cydney take several pictures of him mock-fighting with his rudis.  She did, laughing at his antics, when something in the next tour group behind them caught her eye.

It was platinum blond hair with a hint of pink to it.  Cydney saw it through the viewfinder of the camera first before, puzzled, lowering her camera to get a better look. There was something oddly familiar about it.  The face with the hair was blocked behind some tourists but as she continued to watch, a distinct sense of uneasiness swept her. She’d seen that hair, once, on the opening day of the Resurrection exhibit. One would not forget hair like that. As Cydney waited with increasing disquiet, Coral Chastity Aames’ face came into view.

Like a phantom materializing, the woman with the pink hair loomed larger than life several feet away and Cydney felt as if she’d been struck.  All of her breath was suddenly sucked out of her and the horror and fury she had been feeling for days swamped her. In a panic, she grabbed Christophe and struggled to keep her wits.

“Inspector Dulay,” she hissed, nearly yanking his arm off as she labored to turn him around in Chastity’s direction. “That woman over there; she’s one of the people who kidnapped my daughter.”

Christophe forgot about the book as his dark eyes focused intently on what Cydney was pointing at. “Where?”

“The pink hair.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh, my God, yes,” she was near the point of hysteria. “That woman is part of the group.  When Olivia called me from France, Ethan said it was from that woman’s cell phone.”

“How do you know her?”

Cydney couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “She’s on television back in the States,” she was frustrated that she had to explain and that he wasn’t leaping into action. “I saw her the day that that my daughter was kidnapped and… oh, please do something!”

Christophe spied the pink-haired woman and he could feel his adrenaline surge. He didn’t know any of Olivia’s kidnappers on sight, but if Cydney said she recognized the woman, then he believed her. She was involved in this well before he was. If the woman in the pink hair was here, Christophe wondered who else from the Disciple group was here. As he’d said earlier, they had eyes and ears in many places.  His police officer training kicked in and herded Cydney and Tyler together.

“Stay with me,” he commanded quietly. “Do not leave my side.”

Cydney obeyed, her heart thumping wildly in her chest, but Tyler was oblivious. He had no idea what had Cydney and Christophe so spooked.

“What’s up?” he asked, his head bobbing around to see what they were looking at.

Cydney grasped the boy by the arm. “Not now, Ty,” she whispered urgently. “Just do what Inspector Dulay says.”

“Huh?”

Cydney didn’t answer; she was too busy watching Coral in the distant crowd.  Dulay was on his cell phone, dialing J.D.’s number.  The call was answered on the fifth ring.

“Dickerson.”

“This is Dulay,” Christophe was speaking quietly, rapidly. “We seem to have located one of the people who abducted Olivia.”

On the other end of the line, J.D. nearly dropped the phone with surprise. “Who? Where?” he demanded.

“At the Colosseum,” Christophe explained quickly. “A woman.”

“Coral Chastity Aames,” Cydney said helpfully.

“Coral Chastity Aames,” Christophe repeated to J.D.. “Mrs. Hetherington has recognized her. She appears to be with a tour group.”

“Is she alone?”

Christophe shook his head. “I don’t know,” he looked at Cydney. “Do you see anyone else you recognize?”

Cydney’s gaze roamed the crowd quickly, fearfully. “No,” she said. “But I don’t think I’d know anyone else on sight. I just happen to know that woman.”

Christophe listened to her and then spoke into the phone. “We don’t know,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Get her,” J.D. hissed. “I don’t care how you do it, but arrest her. And try not to create a scene. We’re on our way.”

“Right.”

Christophe shut off the phone and shoved it back into his pocket, his eyes never leaving the distant pink hair.  He grasped Cydney by the arm, pulling her close so he didn’t have to speak too loudly.  Tyler just happened to be right next to her because she had a tight hold on him. Christophe spoke in a low voice; he didn’t want to be overheard.

“Listen to me,” he said. “I need your help so that she doesn’t get away.”

Cydney looked both terrified and eager. “What do you want me to do?”

Christophe thought a moment, knowing that every moment they delayed was another moment that the woman might get away from them. He spoke quickly.

“We can’t be sure that there aren’t people with her, people who are involved in Olivia’s disappearance,” he said. “We have to assume that she’s not alone. That being the case, I must approach her with stealth. She does not know me so I can get near her. I want you to move around her tour group on the other side in case she tries to run from me when I grab her.”

Cydney shook her head. “But she knows me,” she said. “I’ve met her.”

Christophe took his eyes off of Coral long enough to look at Cydney. “But with your sunglasses on, she might not recognize you, at least not right way.”

Cydney gazed back at him with some fear. “All right,” she realized she still had hold of Tyler. “But what about Ty? We just can’t leave him.”

“We won’t,” Christophe looked at the young man. “I want you to go back out the way we came in and wait for your father. They’re on their way. Flag them down and tell them to hurry.”

Tyler nodded with uncertainty, trying to figure out what was going on. He could tell that Cydney was scared and that, in turn, frightened him.

“Okay,” he said, looking between Cydney and Christophe. “Do you need my sword?”

Cydney, in the midst of her terror, giggled at him. She touched the boy on the cheek. “Keep it with you,” she told him. “Flag your dad down with it. Hurry!”

Tyler dashed off. Christophe looked at Cydney, confidence in his expression. It made her feel confident, too, and she braced herself for what was to come.

“Ready?” he whispered.

Cydney turned to the pink hair, now moving towards the platform overlooking the maze beneath the arena floor.

“Ready,” she answered.

Christophe moved off to his left, his eyes tracking the prey near the edge of the platform. As he moved into the crowd of tourists now following their guide to a different section of the Colosseum, Cydney moved off to her right, hanging back and keeping her focus on both Christophe and Coral.  She wandered towards one of the ramps leading to another section of the ruins, pausing as she watched Christophe stalk. Her heart was thumping so violently against her chest that she was sure it would burst.

Coral was oblivious to what was happening. She was gazing down into the network of passages on the Colosseum floor, also apparently oblivious that her tour group was moving away. Cydney sank back behind an ancient pillar, watching with anticipation as Christophe got to within a few feet of Coral. With every second that passed, Cydney was waiting for Coral to move but the woman remained fixed in place, studying the ruins below the platform.  Christophe drew closer still and Cydney’s breath caught in her throat. It was like waiting for an explosion and she couldn’t stand the tension. But finally, he was on her.

Christophe’s hand reached out and grabbed Coral firmly around the elbow and as Cydney watched, he leaned closed and whispered something in her ear. Coral started violently and let out a yelp, but Christophe squeezed her arm so hard that she instinctively tried to dislodge his hand.

The arguing and panic began with Coral’s wild reaction and Christophe’s firm, quiet voice. Cydney had all she could take; she raced up behind Coral and grabbed the woman by the neck.  As Coral cried out, Cydney’s furious face was filling her field of vision.

 “Where’s my daughter, you bitch?” Cydney cried angrily. “Tell me where she is!”

Coral’s eyes widened at the sight of Olivia’s mother. She began to scream but Cydney slapped a hand over her mouth and together, she and Christophe dragged her back towards the street. Most of the tourists weren’t paying attention and those who were hardly gave the struggling trio a glance. It made for an odd sight but no one seemed particularly concerned. They went back to their sight-seeing. Cydney still had her hand over the woman’s mouth, getting red lipstick all over her palm.

“If you don’t keep quiet, you will be very sorry,” Christophe growled as he continued to drag her towards the street. “You are a wanted person, Ms. Aames. Kidnapping a minor and transporting her out of the country is extremely serious.”

Coral began to weep hysterically as they pulled her out of the Colosseum and onto the street. Cars whirled past and people were going about their business. Thinking that perhaps they should put Coral some place inconspicuous until the Americans arrived, Christophe shoved her beneath one of the many arches that comprised the exterior of the Colosseum and pushed her back against the shadows of the wall.

When they were safely hidden, Cydney’s hand came away from Coral’s mouth and she slapped her, hard, twice before Christophe could stop her. 

“Where’s my daughter?” Cydney was in Coral’s face like a madwoman. “What have you done with her? Where is she?”

“Cydney,” Christophe had his hands full both restraining Coral and pulling Cydney off of her.  “Calm down, please.  Go find Tyler.”

Cydney was furious, terrified, panicked. She let Christophe move her away from Coral but she wasn’t finished with her yet. The tears were beginning to come.

“She’s only fifteen,” she burst into angry tears. “Why did you do this? Tell me why?”

“Sweet Jesus, help me,” Coral sobbed.

“Tell me where my daughter is before I kill you!”

Coral was weeping hysterically with Christophe’s arm across her neck to restrain her. Receiving no answer to her demand, Cydney lashed out and slapped her again before Christopher could grab her hand and firmly shove her away. It was a chaotic, heart-wrenching scene with both Cydney and Coral crying.  Christophe spent more time watching the volatile Cydney than he did watching Coral; an enraged mother was never a good thing and he was concerned for her. She seemed to be going to pieces, and understandably so.

But Cydney didn’t try to slap Coral again. Whatever violence she seemed to be feeling had apparently spent itself. She stood a few feet away, back turned and weeping bitterly, until Tyler approached from the west. The young man was racing at top speed and as soon as he drew near, two smaller black Fiat sedans sailed around the corner behind him with the red lights rotating. Ethan was out of the passenger side of the first car before it even came to a halt.

He raced up with J.D. on his heels.  Penryn and Daniels were in the second car and bailed out to assist.  Ethan and J.D. grabbed Coral from Christophe and handed her off to Penryn and Daniels, who quickly escorted the hysterical woman to the first car.  Christophe followed, as did J.D., but Ethan went straight to Cydney and threw his arms around her.

“It’s all right,” he murmured in her hair. “Come on, honey. Let’s go.”

Tyler was standing next to Cydney with wide eyes at all of the activity. Ethan’s gaze fell on his son.

“Are you all right, bud?” he asked.

Tyler nodded. “Sure,” he lifted his shoulders. “I don’t even know what happened.”

Ethan reached out and grabbed his son gently by the neck. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get Cydney back to the hotel.”

Tyler’s face fell. “We have to leave?”

“Yes, for now,” Ethan replied. “I’ve got work to do and I don’t think Cydney wants to hang around here.”

“But…!” Tyler began to protest.

Ethan cut him off with a stern fatherly look. “We’ll come back later,” he enunciated each word so there would be no room for argument. “We need to get Cydney back to the hotel and I need for you to stay with her while I work. All right?”

Tyler wasn’t happy but he nodded. Ethan, his arm still around Cydney, escorted her and his son back to the second car, idling with an Italian cop in the driver’s seat. He put her into the backseat and climbed in next to her as Tyler, as usual, sat next to the driver.

“Hotel Cavalieri,” Ethan told the cop.

The sedan pulled out into traffic.  Ethan sat in the back seat with his arms around Cydney as she struggled to recover her composure. He could feel her shaking in his arms.

“I’m all right,” her voice was muffled against his coat. She lifted her face to look at him. “Where are you taking Coral?”

He smoothed the hair from her face. “Back to the Rome Police Department headquarters,” he told her.

“She wouldn’t tell me where Olivia was.”

“You let me worry about that.”

Cydney sniffled. “Ethan, I swear to you, I just wanted to kill the woman,” she fell forward, her forehead against his chest. “She knows where Olivia is and….”

“Hey,” he put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. “I told you to let me worry about that. We’ll find out where Olivia is. But I need you to take Tyler back to the hotel and wait for me, okay? Just take it easy right now, please. I need for you to trust me.”

Her gaze lingered on him a moment before she collapsed against him again. He gathered her up fiercely in his powerful arms, feeling her warmth and softness against him and drawing strength from it.

“I do trust you,” she murmured.  Her gaze found Tyler. “Poor kid; he was having such fun until all that went down.”

“He’ll survive.”

“No, I won’t,” Tyler turned around, having heard almost every word. “Can Cydney and I at least go walk around a little? I’ll be bored out of my mind if I have to sit around in the hotel all day.”