American Heroes Series - 01 - Resurrection (10 page)

“Hey, Cyd,” Stu greeted her pleasantly. “Another day and no crazy zealots messing up our museum. I’d say that’s a good day.”

Cydney laughed softly. “It’s always a good day when everything remains intact,” she agreed. “We okay for the night?”

Stu nodded, his attention moving to the guards who had just shut the main doors behind the last visitor.  There were four guards, all over seventy years of age and, as he watched, two of them wrestled with the massive doors.  Stu sighed.

          “We’re fine” he said. “I’m going to check the doors myself.”

          “Go get ‘em, Stu.”

          He smirked as he walked off and left Ethan and Cydney standing alone.  The sun was setting outside and the ambient light in the museum was growing dim, giving it a rather romantic feel. Art, culture and two people standing alone.  Ethan turned to Cydney before she could speak.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

She made a face. “You’re going to think I’m paranoid, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of my daughter all afternoon,” she said. “She is supposed to call me every day when she gets home from school but she didn’t today and I can’t get a hold of her. I want to run home just to make sure everything is okay.”

He gave her a gently reproving look. “I don’t think you’re paranoid; I think you’re an attentive mother.  What if I follow you home and then take you and Olivia out to eat?”

It was a sweet offer and Cydney smiled gratefully. “You don’t need to do that. Olivia only eats Macaroni and Cheese and garlic bread, anyway.”

“Then we’ll find a place that has Macaroni and cheese on the menu.” He put his hand on her back and turned her in the direction of the elevator. “Come on; let’s get out of here.”

They were almost to the elevator when J.D. and Agent Lowell entered the gallery from the employee-only area; they had been up on the roof and had secured it for the night.  J.D. was still carrying his binoculars and James had a flashlight.

“All secure down here?” J.D. asked Ethan but his eyes were on Cydney.

“Just locking up for the night,” Ethan noticed where J.D.’s attention was. “J.D., you met Cydney Hetherington this morning, right?”

J.D. nodded. “Yes, I did, in passing,” he shook her hand. “Good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Cydney removed her hand. “Thanks for keeping our collection and people safe.”

J.D. wriggled his eyebrows. “Well, hopefully it will remain calm for the duration of the exhibit,” he said. “How long will it be on display again?”

“Four months.”

J.D. made a face. “Terrific. Then you’d better get used to seeing us around for the next four months.”

Cydney didn’t dare look at Ethan; she didn’t think four months with the FBI was a bad thing at all. “I guess it’s the price we have to pay,” she sighed with feigned drama.

J.D. agreed without much enthusiasm while Ethan wasn’t horrendously disappointed at the thought, either. However, when he tried to accompany Cydney down to her office, J.D. stopped him.

“Ethan, we need to go over a few things,” he said. “I need you to stick around up here.”

Ethan let Cydney get on to the elevator without him. “Sure,” he said to J.D., then turned to Cydney. “I’ll see you at your house, all right?”

She nodded, smiling at him as the elevator doors shut.  When Ethan turned around, J.D. and James were looking at him as if he had just robbed a bank.  Their surprise, if not their outrage, was obvious.

“What in the hell was that about?” J.D. demanded.

Ethan lifted an eyebrow. “I’m taking her out to dinner.”

Lowell just shook his head as J.D.’s mouth popped open. “You’re
what
?” he gasped. “Since when do you ask a woman out; a woman you are working with, no less?”

Ethan wouldn’t back down. “I am allowed to see anyone I want to on my own time,” he pointed out. “And I don’t work with her.”

“This is not a good idea and you know it.”

“I appreciate that. But cut me some slack, will you? I’m a big boy. I can handle myself.”

J.D. put up his hands. “Wait a minute,” he said, grabbing Ethan’s broad shoulder. “Brother, I’ve been around you when you interact with women. You can be abrupt, condescending and flat-out insulting. We’ve got to work with that woman for the next four months and I don’t want you ruining our good rapport.”

Ethan knew he was right in the normal sense, but not this time. This was different. “It’s not like that,” he lowered his voice. “The last thing I want to do is insult or demean Cydney.  She… well, she’s different. She’s special. Look, I know I can be an ass, but that’s the last thing I’d be with her. Trust me.”

J.D. lost some of his indignation. “Special? What do you mean?”

“He likes her,” James piped up. “He’s liked her from the start.”

Now J.D. was shocked. “Really?” he looked between James and Ethan. “So you don’t want to emotionally bully the woman?”

Ethan shook his head. “Not even close.”

When they were supposed to be debriefing, Ethan had to listen to an hour of J.D. Dickerson’s psycho-babble on Ethan’s relationship with the female sex over the past eight years.  Ethan couldn’t disagree. But this time, he knew J.D. was wrong.

***

After trying to call Olivia one more time from the office, Cydney made a dash for her car.  She was growing more worried by the minute.  Saying good night to the security guard as she quit the offices, she dug in her purse for her keys as she crossed the brightly lit parking lot. The mercury vapor lamps were buzzing over head in the early dusk as she neared her car. 

As she approached the vehicle, a figure emerged from between the cars, nearly running her over. Startled, Cydney stumbled back and ended up almost laying over a car hood.  Her purse scattered over the asphalt.

“Whoa,” the man she bumped in to grabbed her wrist and pulled her off the car. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you.”

“That’s okay,” Cydney yanked her hand away. “No problem.”

The man bent over to help her pick up her purse.  Cydney didn’t want anyone else touching her things so she kept snatching stuff out of his hands as fast as he collected it.  After a moment, she dared to look into the man’s face and found a pair of sultry blue eyes gazing back at her.

“You’re Cydney Hetherington, right?” he asked. When she didn’t respond right away, he grinned. “Sorry. I’m Joe. I’m a security guard here. Actually, this was my first day.”

Cydney nodded. “I think I saw you this morning during the briefing,” she said. “Sorry, but there are so many new hires I don’t keep track of everyone.”

Joseph picked up a pack of gum that was still on the ground and handed it to her. “That’s okay,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to know me. That’s why I introduced myself.”

Cydney took the gum and put it back in her purse, rising from her crouched position. “Thank you for helping me pick up my purse,” she said. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Joseph stood up next to her. He realized the conversation was coming to a close and hastened to keep it going; that was, after all, his assignment. “Are you here on the weekends, too?”

She shook her head. “No,” she replied. “Just during the week.”

“I hear it gets really busy on the weekends.”

“It sure does.”

“Will you be here this weekend since it’s opening weekend for the exhibit?”

She shrugged. “Probably.”

Cydney hit the remote unlock, listening to the car beep with Joseph still hanging on behind her.

“Have you worked here long?” he persisted.

She was  uncomfortable with this man, no matter how good looking or polite he was, following her to her car.

“Almost eleven years,” she replied.  She glanced at him as she opened the car door. “Well, best of luck to you with your new job. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”

“Hopefully.”

He said it in a seductive voice, hoping she would catch it.  All it succeeded in doing was frightening her.  She bolted into her car with a final wave, slamming the door shut and locking it.

Joseph watched Cydney drive out of the parking lot as if the Devil was chasing her.  He had a feeling he had failed to impress.

CHAPTER SIX

There were three cop cars in front of the house when he pulled up.

Ethan was looking forward to a wonderful evening until the moment he turned onto Cydney’s street and was greeted with two black and whites and a plain clothes unit parked right in front of her house.  Then the fear set in and all thoughts of dinner with two lovely women fled from his mind. He kept his apprehension in check as he parked his 2012 BMW X5 and calmly walked to the front porch.  The door was open and he could see a uniform standing just inside. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his FBI identification card.

He held it out as he walked in the house.  The uniformed officer turned to him but he spoke before the man could question him.

“Special Agent Serreaux, FBI” he held up his identification card in plain sight. “Where’s Mrs. Hetherington?”

The words were barely out of his mouth when he heard someone calling his name. Cydney was sitting on her couch with a crew-cut detective next to her and another uniform standing over her.  Ethan glanced around and saw at least two other uniformed officers walking through other rooms of the house. It was clear they were dusting for prints. He went straight for Cydney.

“Cydney?” he asked soft urgency. “What happened?”

Cydney looked as if she had been bawling her eyes out; the beautiful hazel eyes were red and swollen.  A wad of Kleenex was in her hand. She tried to open her mouth to speak but all that came out was a sob.  Ethan shoved the identification card in his pocket, sat down beside her and put his arms around her. He didn’t know what else to do.

Cydney clung to him and sobbed.  Ethan put a hand on her head comfortingly, holding her close against his chest. His gaze found the detective seated on the other side of Cydney.

“What happened?” he tried to sound professional and not overly concerned.

“Are you a friend of the family?” the detective asked.

Ethan nodded because to say anything else would have been too complicated. “What’s going on?”

The detective glanced at the notebook in his hand. “Well, according to Mrs. Hetherington, she came home at after work to find several rooms of the house in some disarray and her fifteen year old daughter missing.  She seems to think her daughter has been kidnapped.”

“Or course she’s been kidnapped,” Cydney suddenly came to life. “Can’t you see there has been a struggle all over this house? Someone broke in and took her!”

Ethan shushed her soothingly. “Cydney, look at me,” he put his hands on her face and forced her to fix on him. “Tell me what happened when you came home.”

She was struggling but made a good effort to control herself. “I… I came home and the front door was open,” she gasped and sniffled. “When I touched the door, it just opened. It wasn’t even latched.  And the kitchen was all up-ended, as if a herd of cattle had run through it.  Olivia’s book bag was on her bed where she had put it when she came home from school, but nothing was touched. Ethan, she always does her homework first when she comes home from school.
Always
.”

Ethan could feel her panic; in truth, he had some of his own. He hadn’t known this woman more than three days but already, she was under his skin. So was her daughter. It didn’t matter if he had known them for three days or three years. As a parent and a human being, he felt her pain.

“Did you try calling all of her friends?” he asked.

She nodded, tears overflowing onto her cheeks. “They saw her leave with Mrs. Marquez, my neighbor. She normally picks her up from school. But Mrs. Marquez says she dropped her off like normal and watched her walk into the house. That’s the last anyone has seen of her.”

Ethan inhaled slowly, thoughtfully. His mind was working furiously.  Cydney was weeping softly and his hands were still on her cheeks.  Kissing her forehead gently, he stood up and pulled her with him.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Walk with me.”

She obeyed, the wadded tissue against her mouth as she stifled her sobs. He held her right hand tightly with his right hand while his left arm went around her shoulders.

“I need you to calm down and talk to me,” he said softly, firmly.  “Tell me why you think she’s been abducted.”

Cydney sniffled and swallowed. “Because Olivia would not have just run off,” she said flatly. “She’s a creature of habit; she comes home, does her homework and makes macaroni and cheese because it’s the only thing she likes to eat. I come home to it every night.”

They paused in the hallway as a cop dusted the door knob of Olivia’s bedroom.  Ethan caught a glimpse of school portraits of Olivia on the wall as he turned to Cydney.

“You’re sure she couldn’t be anywhere else?” he pressed gently. “What about your parents? Do they live around here and could they possibly have her?”

She shook her head. “My parents are in Northern California right now visiting friends and my brother lives in Santa Monica. He wouldn’t have her. Even if he did, he would have called me to let me know.”

“She’s never run away before, has she?”

“Never.”

The detective who had been sitting on the couch was now walking up behind them. He still had his notepad out and a pen in his hand. He was listening to her answers as he walked up.

“Mrs. Hetherington,” the detective interrupted their conversation. “Is there anyone you can think of that would want to harm you or Olivia? Any threats?”

Cydney blinked.
Threats
. She didn’t know why, but she suddenly thought of the threat against The Lucius Robe. It was the entire reason for Ethan’s presence. She looked right at him, her eyes wide with horror.

“Threat,” she hissed. “Is it possible… possible this has anything to do with The Lucius Robe? You said there was a specific threat. Is it possible while everyone was focused on the museum, your Disciple group or whatever they call themselves was trying to infiltrate the museum another way?”