WFOL 2016
BBTV Round Robin

(Chapter Index)

Chapter 4
by Aliset

 

It took Catherine a few minutes to catch up with Vincent’s hurried strides. Carmen is making a sandwich---clearly their unknown intruder (or intruders, she amended---they hadn’t ever been able to decide if there was just one person responsible for the thefts) was heading towards the kitchen. “Vincent,” she asked, “what do you need me to do?”

He turned, a sharp, rough pivot on his heel, cape flying out behind him in a dark shadow. This was Vincent in full battle mode, preparing to defend his community. “Go Above. Stay with the children.” He took a deep breath and softened his tone. “Stay away from all this until I give the all clear.  Please, Catherine. Don’t come down until this is over.”

Catherine knew Vincent was thinking of their last invasion, the feral outsiders and all that had ultimately cost them. She had come below then at Father’s behest but small wonder if that experience was one of his worst nightmares; it was certainly one of hers. “All right,” she replied from a throat gone suddenly dry. “I’ll go Above.” She reached out, and gathered one of his large clawed hands in her own. “But you come back to me, do you hear?”

A small smile crossed his face. She supposed he meant it to be reassuring, but it failed at that. Vincent was aware---as was she, after all these years---of the terrible costs of protecting the only home he’d ever known. “I’ll do my best,” he murmured against her hair, gathering her close for one brief second.

She nodded and stepped back. He had a job to do and so did she.

***

Vincent met up with Jamie at the fork in the corridor that led to the kitchen. She was pressed to the shadows, her bow tensed and ready to fire. “Where did she go?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

Jamie jerked her chin towards the right corridor. “I think she’s headed towards William’s cold storage room.”

Vincent repressed a sigh. The room was stocked full of their food supplies that needed refrigeration, with shelving like a maze.  It was just about the last place he’d choose to corner someone. “There’s only one way in or out,” he said. “She can’t stay in there forever.”

“No,” Jamie agreed. “But she can do a hell of a lot of damage while she’s in there.”

He nodded.  “True. Go back to the main pipe juncture and let the others know---”

Jamie raised her eyebrows. “And what? Let you handle her all by herself, her and whoever might be with her? Nope. Nothing doing. I’ll alert the others, but you stay here until I get back.”

Vincent had a sudden vision of Jamie as she had once been, a small child afraid of her shadow, cringing at loud noises and fearful of any change. When had she become this strong, forceful young woman? “Jamie,” he told her quietly, “I can’t---”

Jamie glanced down at the ground and back up at him. “Vincent, we can’t. We can’t let you carry all the burden of defending us again. Never should have done it when those outsiders came, and we’re not going to do it now. I put out a call, and we’ll have everyone who can be spared. It won’t be just you handling this mess.”

Jamie had not wanted to accept help when she’d first come to them; years of being in and out of the foster care system had taught her not to rely on anyone for anything. That young girl had disappeared and, in her place, this woman had appeared. He had promised Catherine he would return to her; if Jamie had learned to accept help, surely he could do no less? “You’re…correct, Jamie. I will wait for your return.”

***

Catherine made her way back to her apartment on a more circuitous route than usual. After picking up groceries, she stopped by the office and retrieved her address book. She had been keeping tabs on Mitch Denton since his conviction and sentencing; if he’d been released or transferred, she needed to know.

There was a note on her kitchen table from Mary; since the day was clear, she and Sarah had taken the children to the park to run off some of their energy. Catherine was grateful for the quiet; as much as she enjoyed the tunnel children, there were a lot of them confined in such a small area, and it would be easier to make this kind of call in private.

After she put away the groceries, she dialed the prison locator hotline with a wince. Edie had said they might one day be able to access all of this information on a computer, but Edie loved science fiction as much as jangling earrings, and Catherine didn’t see how that would ever be possible. Until then, it was dial a phone number and wait for someone to answer it.

And wait, and wait some more. Catherine grabbed a salad out of the refrigerator and stabbed a lettuce leaf viciously with her fork. With everything so uncertain, could one thing go right? Just one? She heard a muted click then a bored voice answered, “Department of Corrections, New York Prison Locator.”

Catherine nearly dropped her fork. “Yes, hello. My name is Catherine Chandler and I’m an ADA in Manhattan. I’m calling to check on the prison status of an inmate. Mitchell Alexander Denton, date of birth 3/1/1959.”

“Please hold.” An interlude of canned music that reminded Catherine of the last time she’d been stuck in an elevator, then: “The prisoner escaped last month from Attica during a routine inmate transfer. There’s currently a warrant out for his arrest. Would you like the number for the facility?”

For a moment, it seemed as if all the oxygen in the world had left. Attica was a maximum security prison and Mitch Denton had escaped. “No, thank you,” Catherine managed, and hung up the phone. She breathed out, forcing a calm she was a very long way from feeling. She had promised Vincent to never again block their bond as she had done once before, but too much alarm in their bond would almost certainly distract him at a time when he had too much to deal with.

When she felt her heartbeat slow, she grabbed her keys and locked the door behind her. No, she wouldn’t go below, but she could tap out a message to alert them that maybe (dear God, please no) their thief and Mitch Denton were connected. Was it possible that he might be working with the remnants of Paracelsus’s community Below to cause some fresh mischief? Denton had been a mob enforcer and subtlety really wasn’t among his talents, but she’d read from the arrest reports that he’d sworn revenge on Vincent. The few thefts Below might be nothing…or something much larger.

Once she’d finished tapping out the message, Catherine leaned her head against the cool bricks and sent a brief thought to whomever might (or might not) be listening:

Please, keep him safe. Keep them safe.

 

BBTV Classic Round Robin Chapter Index

 

Content hosted by CABB for WFOL 2016