Prodigal Son
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Kelly settled in to wait for her brother. She thought about what Peter had said, that she should call their mother, but Kelly was reluctant to do so. She did not tell him that she had a fight with their mother about the very subject that she had just discussed with Peter. She hadn't even told Peter why. Kelly tried to convince her mother that she should move back home after discovering the harrowing experience that Annie had gone through, but her mother insisted that she was fine and not move back home on her account. The argument lasted for over an hour. It was not something Kelly wanted to repeat. She knew Peter was right though, Kelly would eventually have to tell their mother. Kelly reached in her purse to grab her phone when she thought she heard a noise. Could Peter be back so soon? Maybe he forgot something. She put her purse down on the workbench to investigate the sound.
"Peter, is that you?" Kelly Blaisdell called out when she heard footsteps slowly coming down the now darkening hall. "Peter?"
"Peter . . . isn't . . . here," a voice called out in a singsong.
A lump of anxiety rose to Kelly's throat as she looked around for an escape route. Kelly swiftly made her way toward the terrace. If she could hide among the greenery maybe the person stalking her would give up. Even though her father, Paul Blaisdell had insisted that both Carolyn and Kelly learn some self defense techniques, the thought of having someone stalking her was still frightening. She did remember one thing, get away as quickly as possible and tell someone.
Kelly thought she found the perfect spot among Caine's plants. She did her best to keep calm, but her heart was racing. It reminded her of the time she had been kidnapped at Carolyn's wedding. She promised herself she would not allow that to happen again, but promises were often made like a piecrust and crumbled easily.
Kelly looked through the greenery, hoping to find a way around the man who now stood in Peter's apothecary room. She spied him through the French doors and her breath caught in her throat. She recognized the man from the newspaper and television. It had been a very high powered case. The papers had said he was an ex-cop. He was the one who tried to kill Caine, Peter's natural father, out of jealousy. He was supposed to be in prison, what was he doing here?
"You can't hide from me little girl," Masterson crooned.
Kelly cursed as she saw Masterson pick up her purse. 'Damn, he knows I'm still here. I should have grabbed my purse.'
"Eventually, you're going to have to come out. I just want to talk to you."
'Like hell,' Kelly though.
For several minutes Kelly watched the man moving slowly through the room. She tried to go deeper into the greenery but the wall behind her only allowed her to go so far. What did Peter say about that time he found his father at a homeless shelter? Kelly tried to gather her thoughts. She remembered Peter telling her that he dived behind some curtains and wall dividers while his father sat on one of the beds with his head bent down, looking for all the world that he was one of those homeless. It was an interesting ploy. It was as if he was hiding in plain site.
"And it would have worked if Cheryl hadn't come in." Peter's voice entered her head.
Could she pull it off? Kelly was so distracted with her thoughts that she didn't see where the man had moved. When she looked up, he wasn't in her line of vision. She tried to strain to see where he might have gone when suddenly, she was being pulled from the greenery, coming face to face with the man.
"You can't hide from me, girl," he grinned maniacally in her face. 'Looks like I have my bait."
"No!" Kelly struggled in the man's grasp, but his hands just squeezed tighter. She tried to bring her knee up to hit him in the groin, but he managed to step aside.
"Now, that's not nice," he countered. "I saw that coming a mile away. I was trained in martial arts at the same academy as your brother, and I learned a few tricks while I was in prison. Do you know this one?"
And his hands struck Kelly Blaisdell across the face so fast and hard that she collapsed into his arms.
"I never did like Blaisdell either. Always seemed to play favorites with his foster son."
Kelly never heard a word that Masterson said.
***
Masterson flung the girl over his shoulder and carried her to his car. He laid her in the back seat and pulled out a set of handcuffs. He placed them, not around her hands, but around her ankles. Then he pulled out another set and cuffed her hands. He then followed that up with a long chain, threading it through both sets of cuffs then locking it with a small padlock.
"Is she all right?" Sarah Masterson asked her brother, breaking the silence as she sat meekly in the front seat watching her brother's endeavor.
"What do you care? I asked you to do a simple job and you didn't."
"I can't help it of he left."
"If you want to continue living, sister, you're going to have to get with the program or you'll be joining our father."
Satisfied that his bait was secure, Masterson went back up to Caine's apartment to leave him a message, one that he would not soon forget. When he returned, he had a few more choice words for his sister.
"Now, it's your turn. You better remember what to say because if you don't and you fail me . . ." Jack made a cutting motion across his throat. "Here, put this in your purse. Peterson is making the rest of the arrangements. Here's the location where you're supposed to take Peter Caine. I don't care how you get him there. When the deed is done. Give the guys that envelope, then meet me back at the apartment."
"What about her?"
"She'll be taken care of soon enough."
"Will she be . . ."
"That’s none of your concern. Right now she's insurance to make certain Peter Caine listens. And if he does manage to survive our little trap, we're going to need her. So, I hope you'll put on a good show for our Shaolin priest, because if you don't . . . You know what will happen."
Masterson watched satisfied as Sarah meekly nodded and headed toward the Caine apartment to wait for Peter's return.
Continues with Part 9
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2006.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from
the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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