A Journey Begun - Chapter 3.5 - Interlude 1
#7 of Saga the First - Book One - A Journey Begun
No fancy titles here. No sir.
....I'm not imaginative shut up ;A;
December. A time of celebration. A time of gift giving, of happiness and laughter and fun.
I never expected it to be a time of absolute stress.
After knowing Evelyn for almost three years and being her date for all of that time, Riggs had suggested I propose, if I really loved her that much. Truth be told, I was madly in love for her, but when the thought came of asking her hand, I turned into a lump of jello. The thought sent shivers down my spine, it did. But here I was, in a jewelry store looking for a ring to fit her finger that also wouldn't burn my wallet and dance on its ashes. Several rings caught my eye, but when the cute store attendant asked if I wanted to look at rings for couples, I couldn't refuse.
I left a while later with a simple pair of wedding bands and a small diamond ring. My heart was in a tizzy. Undue worry filled my head. What if she didn't like the ring? What if it didn't fit? What if I screwed the whole thing up? I hadn't felt this stressed since...forever.
I kept the rings with me. I had to figure out a suitable date to surprise her on.
Then I had an idea.
The night had just begun. Me and the guys were on the precinct roof, along with the chief and several other guys. Drinks were passed around and food laid on plastic plates. In the corner were a pair of speakers that played cheesy old songs. The atmosphere wasn't exactly perfect, but hey, the company more than made up for it. Everyone was milling about, talking and chatting, eating and drinking, not worried about the present and the future, just for this one night.
Merry Christmas everyone.
I had butterflies in my stomach. My heart was in my throat. Across from me was my love, my Evey. She was chatting with a member of her team, oblivious to me. But then, as if she read my mind, she turned and smiled at me.
My legs went weak.
Hold it together, man, it's not like everyone's gonna be staring at you once you start the show.
Wait, they are.
Crap.
Shut up brain you're making things worse.
I had the box with the ring in my pocket, but I was looking for the right opportunity to do my thing. I couldn't see any other way to go about it, what with the amount of people, so I did what everyone else would've done it.
I walked straight up to her and smiled.
She smiled back, a soft, cute smile that made my heart skip a beat.
"Hey there Eve."
"Hey, Danny boy. What's the matter? I thought you were enjoying yourself with the boys over there?"
"It got boring for me. Besides, I prefer spending my time with you, you should know that."
She giggled and gave me a gentle hug.
My heart skipped another beat.
"Aww, that's so sweet, Dan."
"You know it."
I smiled and hugged her back. She felt so warm and friendly in my arms. I could've stood here with her all night, but I knew I had better things to do. I waved to Eddie behind her back. He gave me a thumbs up and lowered down the music a touch.
"Hey, Evey, what's the one thing you've always wanted for Christmas?"
"Mm, I always told dad I wanted a pony for Christmas, but I never got one. Could you get one for me, pretty please?"
She fluttered her eyelids at me cutely and I rolled my eyes and chuckled. She could be so silly at times.
"Seriously though, the one thing I've always wanted was to go on a vacation somewhere other than the States. Maybe London, or France, somewhere that isn't here."
I smiled down at her. I signaled to Eddie again and he turned the music down even more. I could still hear the faint strains of 'White Christmas' in the background as I held her and reached into my jacket.
"Well, I could probably do that come pay day, but I have the next best thing."
For a while she was puzzled. But as I kneeled down and pulled out the ring box, her eyes widened. Everyone turned and stared as I smiled up at her, the box open in my hands.
"Evelyn Troy, love of my life, would you be so kind as to, um, let me have your hand in marriage?"
Silence. She stared at me, tears in her eyes.
For a moment, I thought I blew it. What was I thinking, proposing on the roof of the workplace, in the winter, to a lady I've only known for three years? I was still beating myself up mentally when I heard her answer. In disbelief, I asked her to repeat what she said.
"Yes. I do, Danny boy, I do."
Words cannot express my feelings.
I stood up and wrapped her in the biggest, warmest hug I've ever given her and our colleagues cheered. I could feel her tears staining my shirt, but I didn't care. I could feel my own tears running down my cheeks, but I didn't care.
All I cared about was her and our life together.
Her head was nestled in the crook of my shoulder, her breath soft and warm against my chest. Her body was so perfect, she rested against mine, curled up like a kitten, all soft and warm. My arm was wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close in an embrace.
Right after the Christmas party, she insisted I bring her home. So I did. We spent a long time talking about each other, about how we would live life as a couple, about plans for our future.
Then she kissed me. I kissed back.
One thing led to another.
We laid in my bed together, but while she slept, I lay awake, wondering and thinking about our future, especially the wedding. I had to plan out when it was to take place. It had to be some time special. And a honeymoon too.
So much to plan. But I had all the time in the world to plan for my lady.
My Evelyn.
We wed in a small chapel nearby. All our colleagues attended, hell even the chief himself was there, front row. Everyone was so happy that we were together now, even Eddie. I swear this is the first time I've seen the big guy shed a tear.
I managed to get two weeks of vacation leave from the chief, special present for us both. I told her I planned a vacation. She asked where. I said London.
She squealed.
Well it's not every day a lady like her, in our line of work, gets to go on an overseas vacation. Of course she was thrilled.
I told her it was for our honeymoon too.
She nearly fainted. I had to catch her to stop her from collapsing in joy. She smiled at me from within my arms. She told me how I was the perfect husband. I simply told her I was young and full of stupid ideas. She giggled and batted the side of my head and called me silly. In a way she was right.
We spent our weekends together, packing for our trip and making plans on what to do when we were there. I wanted to stay around the city, check out the food and the nightlife and the attractions like your bog standard tourist, while she wanted to explore the countryside, see nature, talk to the people. In the end we settled on a little bit of both. We'd stay in the further reaches of London, nearer to the country she wanted. I had my typical tourist fare to take in while she had her fair share of the new and unexpected. We were both happy and we both agreed to accompany each other everywhere.
A vacation we would remember.
I booked a small little bed 'n breakfast a ways away from the city centre, instead opting for a more country like feel, just like we agreed. The place was above a bar, best I could find, and there was a library nearby, with a train station nearby that could take us into the heart of London. The place was owned by a nice man, name of Brandon. Charming middle aged Brit, scruffy brown hair, brown eyes, built like a small tank but all he did was mix drinks at night and cook breakfast in the day. Evelyn took a liking to him, I took a liking to the grilled sausages and potatoes he made in the morning.
We spent a lot of time together. Two weeks is a long time, and we spent most of that running around, taking photos, eating and drinking, seeing the sights and taking in the atmosphere. We even got a few souvenirs for the guys back home. I got Eddie a shirt and a new mug and some keychains for the guys, Evelyn got some cute little stuffed pooches, which I assume were for her team. It wasn't until the week of our departure that Evelyn came to me with something strange. I was busy taking stock of what we were packing up when she burst into the room, a little flustered. I turned to look at her, a little puzzled.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"You should come downstairs, sweetheart, Brandon wants to talk to us."
That troubled me a little. I stood and threw on a shirt.
"About what, Evey?"
"Just come with me, Daniel. It's important."
She'd never lie about something important. I nodded and followed her downstairs, where Brandon was in the small lounge area, wringing his cleaning rag in his hands, a look of worry on his face.
I couldn't help but notice, with my enhanced vision, that his hands bore signs of active use in combat. Like my hands, but with even more history behind them.
I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and approached him, my wife by my side.
"Brandon, sir, what's wrong?"
He looked at me with such a helpless gaze I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"It's me neighbour, the librarian? You've been to her place before."
I remembered. Last week, my wife was curious about the little library in the side street opposite our motel, so we went to check it out. The place was owned by a very cheerful lady, name of Connie. Sweet lady, shorter than Evey and meatier, but with curves where they counted. Dressed almost entirely in black though, with a few piercings here and there. Wondered briefly how a woman could dress like this but be so peppy and cheerful to run a library. We had tea with her, talked about our vacation and work and so on, nice lady. It troubled me that she was suddenly being brought up.
"What's up with her?"
"She's missing."
That struck me as odd.
"Missing? You sure she's not, like, out to buy groceries or something?"
"I'm positive, sir. She's gone and disappeared and I can't help but smell something fishy 'bout it. You're both detectives, aye? Can't you figure something out?"
Wait what. How'd he know we were both detectives? I opened my mouth to ask him, but Evey beat me to it.
"I told him we were detectives, Daniel, a few days ago while you were out hunting for a place to eat, I was chatting with Brandon and it came out."
Question answered.
Now, to get to the meat of it. A good mystery was something I couldn't pass up. With my wife by my side, I'm sure we could get this solved before we had to return to America.
"When was the last time you saw her, Brandon?"
"Um, yesterday, yeah. She brought over some cupcakes she baked herself. I had one, chocolate chip, delicious."
I gave him a look.
"Right, right, not important. Well, after that she hung around a while and then she left. Said she had to go to the bank to get some money. I'm not sure when she got back cause I was busy in the kitchen, y'see, and there ain't no windows in there, but this morning when I was up for breakfast she didn't pop around to say hi. She always does that, every day for years she's been doin' that. Not doin' the daily routine makes me a bit suspicious about things, ya know? So I popped out a spot to check on her and bam, her front door's open, bag on the street. Didn't even have time ta think before I panicked and ran back inside and found your wife."
So he'd only just seen her disappearance? He might not have witnessed it, but he was witness to the scene.
"How long ago was this?"
"Couple minutes, nothing more. No one comes by here this time of day, everything's still there."
"Good. Brandon, you need to stay in here, whoever took her might still be in the area. Evelyn and I are heading outside to check things out."
We put our game faces on and headed outside. We could see the mess from here. Connie's stuff was scattered about on the street, her bag open and torn, her door ajar. While Evelyn went to check on the library, I busied myself with her belongings. As I pawed through her stuff, I tried to come up with a reason why someone would kidnap her. Nothing struck me as weird, so I stood and tried to examine the area. One straight street one way and the other. Only two avenues of escape, since the side street her library was in ended in a dead end. That meant she could've been taken either way. I checked both sides of the street, but only one had some form of evidence; one of the lamps had some scratches on it. It could've been from anything, but as I kneeled to examine it, it seemed to fit the image of her fighting being taken against her will, grabbing and clawing at anything she could find. This made the most sense.
Brandon emerged from within the pub.
"Have you found out anything?"
I gave him a glance.
"Nothing yet, but all evidence points to her being taken against her will. Most likely she was ambushed and gagged before she could make a noise. Quite possible she was taken that way."
I pointed down the street. At that point Evelyn emerged from the library.
"Nothing in there. Till and everything were pristine. She must've been taken as she was leaving to do something."
I went back to her belongings. Something was ringing bells in my head but I couldn't figure out what. I turned to ask Brandon a question.
"Was she in any sort of a pickle? Any problems she told you about?"
He thought for a moment. Then something came to him.
"Recently she told me that she was having problems with money, so she had to borrow some from one of those...unruly sorts. She told me she'd be paying the loan back soon, so I never thought she'd meet any trouble."
I looked back at her stuff. Sure enough, two things stood out: her bank book and a calling card. I picked up the card. It was for a money lender. And the idiots had an address on it.
Perfect. I loved it when idiots were the real idiotic type.
I showed him the card.
"Do you know them?"
He nodded.
"These fellas, yeah! They're a real bad type, they are. Had to tangle with them in the past, not pretty. Say...you're not meaning that she was taken by them, eh?"
"Everything points to them, Brandon."
"Well shite, um, if I remember right, that address will lead you to a warehouse on the far side of town. If you take the train now it'll get you there before dusk."
I looked at Evey and she nodded.
"We'll go now, Brandon. Thanks."
"No, thank you. Please bring her back safe. She's the only company I have her most days."
We nodded and made to set off, but as we were walking we heard Brandon in the distance, so I stopped and turned around.
"What's up, man? We missed something?"
"Yeah, yeah! I forgot to warn ya: those guys are real mean business. If they catch ya snoopin' about, they won't hesitate to deal out some harsh punishment. You'd best be careful and well armed."
"Don't worry Brandon, we'll be fine. She's got pepper spray and I have a hard plastic extendable baton in my pocket."
"Well just in case, you have my number. If things get too dicey, call me and I'll send the local plod down on them hard. Ain't nothing I can do alone, y'see."
I nodded.
"Thanks Brandon."
"Nah mate, thank you. For doing this."
It was nearly evening by the time we reached the warehouse. It was all done up with paint and signs that advertised the money lending agency, but I could sense hostility in the air. As we got close we heard sobbing coming from within, the voice unmistakably Connie's. I could smell her perfume in the air, along with the familiar smell of testosterone and blood.
Blood? Crap, we had to move fast now. I signaled to Eve to speed up and we did, advancing towards the front door. I didn't expect an establishment like this to be well guarded, and I was proven right when I pushed the front door open with no resistance. We went further inside, the air heavy with bleach and paint thinner and a million other smells. I instinctively followed the scent of blood through the plywood halls, Eve close behind me.
We approached a set of back rooms. I could hear the din of laughter and the pained sobbing of our mark. I whipped out my baton, small as it were, and motioned for Eve to slow down and keep to my back. Ahead the hallway angled to the right, and it was there that I saw our first set of guards, both burly men armed with baseball bats. Those heavy aluminium bats would crumple my baton easily, so I needed a plan. I looked behind me at Evey and whispered to her.
"Honey, you wouldn't happen to have some zip ties, would you?"
She pulled a bundle out of her purse, almost on cue.
"I like to be prepared, sweety."
"Sweet. Now, I have a plan to take these two out, but we'll have to be quick about it."
"Say Gordon, you ever wonder what we'd be doing if we wasn't here?"
Gordon ran a hand through his hair.
"Well I'd probably be in a bakery somewhere. You know how much I love me bread."
"Bloody 'ell, you bake a loaf every week, how'd I not guess that?"
"What about you, George? Where'd you be?"
"Oh I dunno, maybe, um, driving a bus, yeah. I know this city like the back o' me 'and, I do."
"Yeah I know ya do. 'Ey, whassat on the wall there?"
The two men were drawn to a little black and orange canister that had just rolled to a stop against the wall they were in front of. As one of them bent over to pick it up, we attacked. I stuck my baton between the legs of the bent one and pulled it up sharply, while Evey kicked the standing one in the back of a knee, then gave him a generous dose of a taser she had in her hand.
Wait, she had a taser?
I turned to her and voiced my thought.
"Wait, you have a taser?"
"Yeah, self security shop in the city."
Useful lady, she was. I tied up the one clenching his broken sack while she tied up the spasming one. Silent and efficient. I kept my baton close at hand while Evey retrieved her pepper spray.
The sobbing was coming from further down, so we advanced ahead, reaching a point where I could pinpoint the door the crying came from. We stopped outside and I snuck closer to the door to try and eavesdrop on what went on within. Almost instantly I heard Connie's voice. We were at the right place. "I told you I don't have the money! I don't! I'm saving to pay you back, honest!"
"Honesty ain't gonna cut it here, babs, cause we honestly know that you've been holding out on us!"
Whack. The sound of flesh hitting flesh.
Another cry. Another sob and whimper.
Oh they did not just do what I think they did.
I turned to Eve.
"Hun they're beating her up in there. We need a plan."
"I-I can't think of one right now, Danny."
"Hmm."
I glanced at the two downed thugs down the corridor.
"In that case, go grab the bats off those guys. I have a feeling we'll need them."
She nodded and scampered off, while I kept on listening through the door.
"We know you've been heading to the back every week. What've you been doing there, hmm? Checking on some money that's rightfully ours, hmm?"
"No it's not that! I was checking if my welfare was in or not so I could pay you back!"
"Well too bad, babs, cause we need our money now. And if you don't cough it up, I'll send my boys down to your precious library, ransack the place and then burn it down to the ground as compensation for my, uh, loss."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh I do, honey, I dare to do a lot of things."
Another slap, it sounded like. Eve came back with the bats and tapped me on the shoulder.
"I think our friends on the floor there are waking up."
"Good. Element of surprise. Get on the other side."
She nodded and got on the other side of the door, bat in one hand, pepper spray in the other. Down the hall one of the men began to wake up. He groaned and kinda tried to yell a name, which someone apparently heard.
"Eh? George? Whassat?"
One the men inside, I assumed it was the lead thug from the sound of his voice, shifted and walked up to the door. I crouched behind it and waited.
The doorknob turned and the door opened.
A middle aged man with a phone in his hand stared down at me.
I stared back.
He took a step back.
I sprung up and rammed his teeth in with the wide tip of the bat and shoved him inward, stepping in with him as he fell.
Everything slowed.
I caught sight of two men on both sides of me. Door guards.
I twisted left and crashed a swing into the left man's chest, then swiveled round and redirected my momentum at the right man, slamming the bat into his gut.
Both crumpled.
I twisted round as a man charged at me with a switchblade. I used my momentum and swung the bat at his knees.
He went down.
One more from my right.
I barely ducked a swing from a sledgehammer.
My bat came up and slammed into his cheek.
He fell.
Everything caught up with me.
I had five men on the floor in various states of injury, and the boss man was crawling to the door, trying to make his escape. At the other end of the room was Connie, tied to a chair, her face bruised and bloody, but conscious. Evelyn stepped in front of the boss man and stopped him with her bat on the small of his back.
"I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you."
He stopped. I smiled. She smiled back.
"You were amazing in there, Danny boy."
"Thanks."
'British police today arrested an illegal money lending syndicate after a tip off by a pair of tourists from America, in a story that's dominated the headlines this afternoon. American couple Daniel and Evelyn Anderson were in London recently for their honeymoon, having wedded recently in December last year, when they were given a strange request by the owner of their motel, a man who only wanted to be identified as Brandon.
"Brandon, uh, came up to me and my wife with this request, that he wanted us to go find his neighbour, a nice lady named Connie. If we were regular tourists, y'know, things would've gone differently, but as it was, I think we did good."
Thankfully, fate seemed to be shining on Miss Gelson's head, as the couple were not only tourists, but also experienced detectives with the New York City police department. With the resources they had available, and with some help from locals, they managed to find Gelson in the warehouse you see behind me. The men involved had kidnapped her from her home and brought her here, where it is believed that she was beaten to make her give them money to pay her debt. The two detectives, acting on instinct and skill, subdued the loan sharks and rescued her.
"Thank goodness they came when they did, I was in so much pain I thought I'd pass out. I didn't want them to do anything else to me so I tried to hold out as much as I could."
Judicial proceedings for the offending men will proceed later in the day. Scotland Yard, meanwhile, have commended the two brave detectives for their effort in apprehending the criminals involved and saving a life in the process. The two detectives are heading home tomorrow."
I turned off the TV and smiled. Evey sat on a bar stool and smiled back as she gently tended to Connie's face. She was bruised pretty bad, and cut up bad too. It would take her a long time to not feel sore, but she had all the time in the world to do that. I walked over and sat next to Connie. She smiled and winced as I sat.
"How're you feeling?"
"A little better, but thanks for asking. You saved my life, you two, I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
"Oh nothing of the sort, Con. We're just happy you're alright! Now hold still, this may hurt."
Eve applied a small ice pack on the side of her face and she shivered. I smiled and shook my head. Brandon approached me from behind the counter, carrying some bottles of beer.
"Best stuff I could find. Have one, on the house."
I nodded and took one.
"Thanks."
"Nah man, thank you for what you did. I don't think I could live with myself if I hadn't done anything. Thankfully you were here when it happened, otherwise I don't know what would've gone on."
I shook his hand and clinked bottles. I was happy that things turned out the way they did, cause they could've gotten a whole lot worse.
"Hey."
"da."
"Listen, Victor, your stock ain't coming in today. Tell the Ruskies you work for that they need another contingency plan."
"Why's that?"
"The gang we were relying on to get our take from our contacts in London got busted. Tell your boys to rustle up something quick, otherwise the boss ain't gonna be happy."
"da. Anything else?"
"Nothing else. Keep safe."
"Dasvidanya then. I'll be in touch."