Love Immortal

by Linnea Hall

  There was no active phone line to the warehouse, so communication at this point was impossible. The team radioed back what information they had. A law enforcement command center was set up at one of the nearby office buildings where Sheriff Payne met the S.W.A.T. team and the other law enforcement officials that had been assembled.

  Shortly after three a.m., Tommy McKean received a phone call. It was short, and to the point. “Bring the immortal and we will release the girl.” Immediately after the call was complete, Alex called the station to begin a trace on the call. Unlike in the movies, tracing a phone call was much easier than they would have you believe. Within an hour, the police had identified the phone call as having been made from a prepaid cell phone purchased from a Wal-Mart in San Diego, California. It had been purchased and activated only hours prior to the call and the information on the phone’s owner was invalid. Triangulation of the cell phone’s signal placed the call as being made from somewhere in the San Diego area. Calls made to the number went unanswered.

  “What is the immortal?” Ashley asked Alex after hearing that the cell phone lead was a dead end. Tommy looked at Alex after Ashley asked the question that had probably been on his mind, but worry for his daughter had left it unasked.

  Alex looked at Ashley, and then at Tommy. How much could he tell her? How much should he tell her? Alex had known Tommy a long time. Alex’s wife had been best friends with Tommy’s wife. He had known Jewell for most of Jewell’s life and loved her as he did his own children. What would he expect Tommy to do in the same situation? He knew something that could potentially save Tommy’s daughter’s life, but he was also sworn to protect the Infinitas – the immortals.

  Alex finally decided that a partial truth would suffice…for now. “There’s a group of religious fanatics who believe that the Templars stole the Holy Grail during their time on the Temple Mount.” He looked at Tommy. “Do you know the history of the Templar Knights?”

  “A little,” Tommy replied. “I know that they were headquartered in Solomon’s Temple and some thought that they found certain holy relics there, the Grail being one of them. But the Templar’s haven’t been around for thousands of years.”

  “Well, for the most part, yes.” Alex thought for a minute. “Well, these religious fanatics, the Obsidian Knights, believe that they have discovered people who are immortal because they have defiled the Grail by drinking from it. When they find someone whom they think is one of these immortals, they’re summarily executed as infidels.”

  “Summarily executed?” Tommy’s voice was shaking with fear for his daughter.

  “They’re beheaded.” Alex looked at Tommy sympathetically. “But since they’re ransoming your daughter for the immortal, Jewell is probably alive.”

  “But there’s no such thing as immortals, right? Who is it they want?” Ashley asked.

  “There are no people that have drunk from the Holy Grail and become immortal.” Alex explained. The Infinitas may seem immortal, but they aged and died as did all people and their immortality was genetic, not the result of drinking from a mythical cup. “They want Collin. They believe him to be an infidel.”

  “But why?” Ashley looked at Alex, clearly upset and confused. Even though he had left Jewell without so much as a goodbye, she still liked him enough not to want him killed. “Because he survived that accident? Have these people heard of modern medicine?”

  “Precisely because he survived that accident. And yes, they’ve heard of modern medicine, but the only miracle they believe in is the gift of the Grail, and Collin should not have survived that accident. You know that as well as I do; as well as they do.”

  “Collin left.” Tommy hung his head dejectedly. “Even if we wanted to hand him over to these people, we wouldn’t know where to find him.” Alex looked at Tommy. Sympathy filled his eyes. He was torn between his duty as a Templar, and his duty as a friend. “The NOLA team will get her out,” was all Alex could say to reassure his friend.

  “I hope so,” said Ashley.

  Tommy just buried his head in his hands and wept for his daughter.

  Chapter 49

  “I’m not just going to sit here and wait!” Collin said angrily, pulling against his uncle’s surprisingly strong grip. “Not when I know where they are and what they want! It’s my fault she’s in this mess; I’m going to get her out!”

  “Collin, they’ll kill you!” Gladys pleaded.

  “I don’t care! Better me than her. If something happens to her, if she dies…” He gave his arm a sharp tug, escaping his uncle’s strong grasp only to fall into Andy’s arms. Although Andy wasn’t as strong as Collin, he slowed Collin enough for Percy and Kendryck to grab hold of him and force him back into one of the plush chairs in Dr. Babineaux’s sitting room. “So what? Are you planning on sitting on me until she dies? Or are you actually going to do something to try to help me?”

  Collin was angry. First he was kidnapped, taken away from Jewell and told he could never be with her because he had some rare genetic disorder that made him, for all intents and purposes, immortal. Then he finds out that, because of his disease, his true love has been kidnapped by a bunch of seriously deranged religious fanatics who are holding her hostage and may kill her, so that they can kill him. He was determined to do what he could to save her, regardless of the cost to him. The people with him could help him, or get out of his way.

  Andy looked at Collin as he was held down by his uncle and Kendryck. If nothing else, he could understand Collin’s frustration. He quietly left the room to make a phone call. When Andy returned, Collin was still seated in the chair, but Percy and Kendryck had reverted to guard positions, no longer physically holding him in the chair. Andy could see the calculation in Collin’s eyes; he intended to find a way to save Jewell. Fortunately, Sheriff Payne had offered a suggestion. Andy cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I just got off the phone with Hugh.” He waited to make sure everyone, especially Collin, was listening. “He thinks it would be best if I took Collin down to the command center.” Andy noticed Percy’s eyes narrow. “He would be safe there,” Andy quickly added to calm Percy and interrupt any repudiation he might offer. “Hugh feels Collin could be useful in the hostage negotiations.”

  Collin practically jumped out of his seat; this was exactly what he had been hoping for, an opportunity to help. Kendryck and Percy looked uneasy, but they didn’t make any attempt to push Collin back into the chair. Percy looked at Collin sternly, the way he had when Collin was a child, just before he did something by himself for the first time, like crossing the street, or walking to school on his own. “You will do everything they tell you. You will not make any attempt to rescue Jewell on your own. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir,” Collin responded contritely trying to suppress his eagerness. Percy stepped out of the way and Collin walked toward Andy.

  *

  At the command center, the crisis negotiation team had been patched into the line at the McKean house and two negotiators had been sent to the McKean house as well. Because a demand had been made, they hoped that they could negotiate Jewell out of the situation which would be a lot safer for everyone.

  After Collin and Andy arrived, they were briefed on the situation. While the S.W.A.T. team had prepared a rescue plan, they intended to wait for a couple more hours to see if another call was made. Then the crisis negotiation team would take over.

  It was almost eight that evening before another call came. It was from the same number as the previous call. Tommy McKean picked up the phone. “Hello?” Kade Lee, one of the crisis negotiators at the McKean house listened in on the phone.

  “We want the immortal. The girl will be released unharmed if we have the immortal within twenty four hours.” Kade hastily scribbled some notes on a pad next to Tommy.

  “What immortal?” Tommy asked, reading the notes.

  “Collin Sykes, the infidel.” The voice on the other end of the phone responded curtly.

  Tommy look
ed at Kade’s notes again before responding. “How can we be certain that the hostage is alive?” Tommy’s voice shook as he asked this question.

  “We know about your surveillance. We’ll show you the girl. Be assured though, that she will die should any attempt be made at that time to remove her from our…care.”

  “What time?” Tommy asked, glancing at the pad again.

  “Eight forty-five.” The voice was cold, sinister. “You will have twenty four hours from that time to produce the infidel. If we don’t have him by eight forty-five tomorrow night, she will suffer the same fate he would have. We will then hunt him relentlessly and mete out God’s justice to those who oppose us.” There was an emptiness on the other end of the line indicating that the caller had ended the call. Triangulation of the caller’s location placed him near Reno. He was moving to avoid being caught.

  *

  Someone eventually brought Jewell some water. She didn’t know if she had been there for over a day, or not yet a day. At one point, she smelled syrup and she could hear plastic scraping on Styrofoam as one of her captors ate what she presumed was breakfast. If that was true, she had been there for at least twenty four hours.

  When she heard the knock, and the scrape of the lock at the door, she was relieved to know that she would have a new guard. Some of them were actually nice. They were concerned with her comfort and did what they could to make her more comfortable, despite not being able to untie her. She had been to the restroom three times. She looked forward to that, because it gave her an opportunity to stretch and rub the pain from her wrists. She was bound more loosely by the first man that had taken her to the restroom, so the chafing had eased a bit, though she was never bound loosely enough to escape.

  When her next captor released her wrists and ankles, binding her wrists in front of her, she had assumed that it was so that she could be taken to the restroom again. Though she didn’t have to go, she welcomed the opportunity to stretch, so she didn’t argue; but when they left this time, rather than going right, and then right again, she went right, and then left. She was taken through another door onto a tile floor, led a short distance, and then another door was opened. This one brought with it the smell of the outdoors. The air was fresher, not musty, and smelled of pavement and exhaust. The sound of the airplanes passing overhead was deafening. She heard the door close silently behind her, and she and her captor stood silently in front of the door. What were they waiting for? They stood like that, silently for several minutes before her captor turned and led her back inside, securing her once again to the hard wooden chair in the empty, musty smelling room.

  At eight forty-five that night, Tommy McKean sat in his daughter’s room, looking at the screen on her computer. A secure internet link sent a live image video back to him of his daughter, standing handcuffed and blindfolded in front of a warehouse. She had bruises on her face and arms. A long, deep cut went from her shoulder to her elbow.

  Andy confirmed that the video he was viewing was live. Jewell had walked from the warehouse on her own. She walked stiffly, as if she had been held in a position that allowed little movement. The look on her face was one of mixed terror, and relief though why her father thought that he could see relief in his daughter’s face was beyond him. Could it be that she thought they were going to let her go? He knew that wasn’t the plan, not until they had Collin. Not until they believed they had carried out God’s justice.

  Collin backed away from the screen that everyone had gathered around and screamed. The rage he felt at the pain Jewell had suffered at the hands of those monsters, at his expense, infuriated him. “Why aren’t we doing anything?” He paced furiously across the room to where Sheriff Payne was sitting. He leaned down, placing his hands on either arm of the chair lowering his face to within inches of the focus of his fury. “We know what they want, why don’t we give it to them?” he hissed through clenched teeth. Though his voice was barely louder than a whisper it carried across the suddenly silent room. “She’s suffering what was meant for me.”

  Hugh Payne sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “What she’s suffering was not meant for you,” he stated in a matter of fact tone. “What’s meant for you is far worse. The men gathered in this room,” he scanned the gathered forces with his eyes, “are experts at what they do. Let them do their job.”

  Collin lowered his hands to his sides, making fists that shook with his combined desperation and fury. He scanned the room finding the captain of the S.W.A.T. team and holding the Team Leader’s eyes with his own. “What are you waiting for?” His fury had not diminished, though it had found a new focus. None of the men in the room would be intimidated by Collin, but all understood his pain.

  “We’re waiting for information.” Jeff Wagner, the platoon’s Team Leader responded calmly, returning Collin’s glare with one filled with sympathy. “We need more information before we move.” One problem they had was that the interior of the warehouse was almost completely concealed, and getting close to the warehouse was nearly impossible.

  Currently, lack of information was their biggest enemy. They didn’t know how many captors there were, or where Jewell was being held, or the types or quantities of weapons the captors had. Those on perimeter duty had guns and swords. If the team chose to take an aggressive approach, they weren’t comfortable that they would be able to locate and secure Jewell before she was killed.

  They had tried to establish communication with the kidnappers, but all attempts had been rebuffed. In addition, attempts to gain surveillance through gifts of food had been refused. At this point, waiting was their best option.

  Hugh’s phone rang. He looked around the room and stepped into a corner to separate himself from the group. He spoke into the phone in low tones. After a few minutes, he turned and walked to Collin holding the phone out to him. “It’s Kendryck,” he said as Collin looked at him questioningly, holding out his hand to accept the phone.

  “Hello?” He asked into the phone. “Yes sir.” Collin was silent for several minutes. “Yes sir, I understand. I’ll do what I can.” Collin hung up the phone and handed it to Sheriff Payne. He looked at the S.W.A.T. leader. “I need someplace where I can be alone, away from all of this activity. I need some time to be by myself.”

  Jeff was quiet for a moment as he thought. “I reckon the best place for you to get some quiet would be that office next to the bathroom. It’s furthest from the entrance, and it might be far enough away from this room to give you some peace.” His voice was full of sympathy.

  “Thanks,” Collin replied, grabbing a chair by its back and dragging it towards the office. As long as people weren’t going in and out of the bathroom, it should be quiet enough for him to concentrate. He didn’t know if he could do what Kendryck had suggested, but he had to try. He placed the chair in the center of the empty room and started thinking about Jewell. He tried to think about every detail until he could see her in his mind, and then he tried to speak to her. “Jewell, I need your help. Can you hear me?”

  *

  Jewell sat tied back in her chair. Her guard sat beside the door. He had fastened the E Z Cuffs loosely; for which she was grateful. Her wrists were chafed and she could feel the sores that had formed on both her arms and legs. She tried to concentrate on rearranging herself so that she was as comfortable as she could make herself. As she shifted from side to side trying to get comfortable, she heard Collin’s voice, “Jewell, I need your help. Can you hear me?” She looked up, not that she could see anything through the blindfold. “Excuse me?” she said out loud.

  “Excuse you for what?” her captor asked.

  “I’m sorry; I thought I heard you say something.” Her captor just grunted. Jewell shook her head, as if something had crawled inside her head and she was trying to shake it free. She thought she had heard something but wasn’t sure what she was hearing, or if she was actually hearing anything.

  Collin felt the shift in Jewell’s emotions from desolation to confusion when he made
contact. He had to try harder.

  “Jewell. Honeysuckle. It’s Collin. You’re hearing me. Listen, I’m sorry I left. I love you. I can’t help you though unless you help me. Please Jewell; I can’t help you unless you can talk to me.” Collin focused all his energy into his thought.

  “Collin?” Jewell whispered.

  She heard the guard shift in his chair. How could she answer him without drawing attention? Did she need to talk out loud, or could she think what she wanted to say.

  She heard him! He couldn’t hear or understand her words, but her feeling of relief washed over him in response to his pleas. He didn’t know if she could understand his words either, or just his feelings, but as he thought the words, he tried to convey what he needed with his feelings as well. “Oh God, Honeysuckle! God, I love you. Don’t give up. I need you to give me some information about where you are and the people who are holding you.” He tried to organize his thoughts so he could get as much information as he could.

  “We know you’re in the warehouse. Where are you in the warehouse? We have a map. Just think about where you are, don’t say anything out loud, and just think it.”

  She knew she was probably hallucinating, but at least it was better than sitting in silence waiting for someone to attack her, or worse, kill her. Where was she? Now how was she supposed to answer that? She was blindfolded and being led everywhere they went. Wait, they had just gone outside. From the front door, they had gone left, then right, and then left through a door. After the door, they had gone right, walked down the hall a little ways, and taken a right into the room. She concentrated, how had they got to that room from the warehouse? Through a door, then right, then right again into the room. And the bathroom, out the door, then right and the bathroom was just down the hall on the left. Those were the only places she had been.

  Collin could almost feel her movements as she traced the paths through the warehouse. He could feel her captors’ hands tight around her arm, controlling her, pulling her through the office. He tried to suppress his anger and the overpowering fear that Jewell was feeling as it washed through him, and tried to focus on how she was moving. He could feel her movements as they came in from outside, as they came in from the warehouse, and as she went to the bathroom. He didn’t have the building blueprint with him so he wrote down the directions. “Good love. Now tell me, how many people are there with you?”