Stormcrow: Book Two: Birds of a Feather

by N. C. Reed

  “I'd say that ain't normally here,” Sean told him. “Lets keep going,” he urged, motioning for an open doorway.

  The doorway turned out to simply be an entrance way. Whatever this building had been used for, the equipment and furnishings were long gone now. They found themselves in a hallway of sorts that seemed to curve around as it disappeared in both directions.

  “This place did look round from the outside,” Sean admitted as he looked one way and then the other. “Maybe this runs all the way around? Opens into different chambers, or rooms?” Both men were out of their depth in a manufacturing facility like this one.

  “I guess,” Tony shrugged. “Doesn't matter right now, though. Lucia may be in one of 'em. We can search quicker if we split up.”

  “I'll take right,” Sean agreed, using a smaller version of the light he had offered Tony.

  “If it doesn't go all the way around, we'll meet back here,” Tony suggested. Sean agreed with a wave and a nod, then disappeared down the hallway. Aiming his light to the left, Tony set himself and then started on his own search.

  -

  Lucia jerked as she heard them. First it had been the door, or so she suspected. She hadn't heard the door when her captors 'visited' her before, but that didn't mean anything. She wasn't paying attention then like she was now.

  Then she heard the voices. Nothing more than a soft murmur, really, and she was probably lucky to get that through the cloth circling her head to keep her blindfolded and gagged. She couldn't make out if they were male or female, either. She hoped for male. So far all of the males had been at least cordial. The woman in the group was a hateful beast.

  She reminded herself that one of those 'males' had killed Elena, though.

  I can't let my guard down for a second, she told herself.

  She had been trying to get at least some slack to the rope around her hands, but so far had been unable to accomplish much other than finding the top knot. Twisting her hands in order to reach it had rubbed her wrists raw however, and tears were soaking her blindfold as she continued to work at it. She was pretty sure her wrists were bleeding now, but she had to ignore that. If she was going to live she had to focus on escaping, no matter how it hurt.

  Maybe the blood will help, she told herself. Anything to give me some kind of edge at all.

  She stopped working as she heard the sound of something rattling down the hall, followed by a muted curse.

  -

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” Sean muttered, disgusted with himself. “Some warrior you are,” he said to the air around him. What looked like an empty drink container left in the hallway had found its way before him and he had kicked it by accident, sending it rattling down the hall.

  My ancestors are turning away in shame, he shook his head at his mistake. Letting the weak beam of his light shine ahead of him, he made sure there were no more surprises waiting for him before continuing down the hallway.

  -

  Tony didn't jump too badly at the sound he thought. He did jerk around, gun in hand and light shining back the way he had come. He couldn't see Sean anymore to see if he was in trouble, but then he hadn't heard anything. Of course, he didn't figure Sean would scream even if someone shoved a red hot poker straight into his eye.

  Still, noise was noise and maybe there was someone back that way. He debated on what to do, but finally decided to keep going. Sean could look after himself and Lucia couldn't. With that he aimed his light back down the hallway and continued looking.

  -

  Sonny didn't bother to look around him as he pulled into the foundry grounds. He did stop at the old guard shack to get a light they had left there for this purpose and a bottle of water from the stores inside. He didn't know why they hadn't stored this stuff inside, unless it was in case the girl escaped.

  It was too bad, really. She seemed okay to Sonny. But his ma was adamant that the Delgado 'bitch' would die, and die horribly at that.

  It was just too bad.

  -

  They were still some way away from Rigotta's when Terase got a sudden feeling that something wasn't as it should be. She called it her 'gut', though she had been told time and again that saying such wasn't 'ladylike'. As if she cared.

  “Turn around,” she ordered Terry, who was driving. “Take us to the foundry, right now.”

  “What about Jamie?” he asked, even as he pulled the vehicle around.

  “He's either all right, or he ain't,” Terase said softly. “If he is, I'll skin him alive for worrying me. If he ain't, then he can tell whoever got him where the girl is. And if they already got him, then they know about us and will be lookin' for us. We need to be on familiar ground.”

  “Yes ma,” Terry nodded and hit the accelerator.

  -

  Sean peeked around the next opening, expecting to see nothing as he shined his light into the area. He saw exactly that until the light passed quickly over a figure sitting in the middle of the room. A woman, tied in what had to be a horribly painful way, her arms stretched out behind her and legs drawn sharply under the chair she was in. Her face was completely covered, serving to both keep her quiet and in the dark.

  Sean checked the rest of the room, careful to look for any sign of a booby trap. At the same time he reached for his personal com unit, intending to call Tony. One look at the screen told him that was out. Inside this place his unit wouldn't function. Putting it away, Sean continued to move into the room. He made a complete circle of the bound figure, again looking for any sort of trip wire or sign of a fail-safe before going near her.

  -

  Lucia fought to keep calm as she heard the steps in the room. Perhaps the most frightful thing about her captivity was not being able to see her surroundings and having her hearing muffled like it was. It left her completely unable to assess threats or see what her chances would be of escape depending on who was here.

  Whichever one of them this was, he was hesitant for some reason. A deep dread settled onto her as she thought about why he would circle her like this. There was only one reason she could think of and despite her best intentions she let out a muffled sob. Whichever one this was, he either meant to take her, or he meant to kill her.

  I can take it, she told herself. And if he frees me to rape me, then I'll have my chance. I'm docile, she reminded herself. I'm just a broken little doll, dickhead. I'm no threat to a great big he-man like you.

  She couldn't make herself smaller but she could adopt a less combative attitude and try to let it show. If he underestimated her even for a few seconds, that would be all she-

  “Patience,” a voice whispered behind her. “I'm making sure there are no traps here. Are you Lucia?”

  Hope soared in her heart at those words. She didn't know who this was, but. . .but. . . .

  She nodded her head frantically, trying to talk around the cloth filling her mouth.

  “Hold on, I'm almost finished,” the voice told her. She could almost feel him behind her, whoever it was. Suddenly she felt cold metal near her wrists and tensed.

  “Easy now,” the voice was calm and reassuring. “Don't move while I cut this away. You're bleeding but it's not bad. Hold still.”

  She forced herself to remain immobile and felt the blade cutting through the thick and rough rope. Her hands were suddenly free after hours in that chair and she almost fell forward out of it, her ankles still pinned beneath the chair and leaving her unable to steady herself.

  “I got you,” she felt a strong-arm snake around her middle, holding her securely but not tightly. “Hold still and let me get your ankle.” She felt steel again and suddenly her right ankle was free. Another strong hand took her leg and moved it to the front, as if knowing she wouldn't be able to after so long bound in the same position.

  “Can you hold yourself while I move around and get the other ankle free?” the voice whispered right into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. She nodded and felt the hand around her middle gradually leave. The presence shifted
to her left and she felt her left ankle being freed, her foot set down before her as the other had been.

  “Now, let's get this off of you,” he whispered. She felt a tug at the back of her head and suddenly her blindfold was gone, though that didn't help much. The only light was the weak beam from the hand torch her possible rescuer was carrying. She carefully pulled the wad of cloth from her mouth, working her jaw open and closed for the first time in hours.

  “I'm Sean Galen,” the voice whispered out of the dark. “I fly with your brother Tony on the Celia. We landed today, this morning, to bring our pilot to see a doctor and he went to his parent's place. That's where he learned what had happened to you. We been looking for you ever since.”

  “Is Tony here?” Lucia asked roughly, almost coughing the word out.

  “Yes, he went the other way around,” Sean told her. He looked down at her bare feet. The ropes had rubbed her ankles until they too were bleeding. He passed the light around looking for her shoes but came up empty.

  “What are you doing?” Lucia asked.

  “Looking for your shoes,” he told her, unbuttoning his shirt. “I need something to wrap your feet in.”

  “Why?”

  “We're in a foundry,” Sean told her as he cut his shirt down the middle and began wrapping her ankles, careful to 'basket' her feet as well. He used the rag she had been blindfolded with to tie one, and the gag to tie the other.

  “That's not as good as shoes but it will help,” he told her, standing. “Can you walk?” he asked.

  “Of course I can!” she whispered, almost indignant. But when she tried to stand her legs gave out at once and had Sean Galen not caught her, she would have hit the floor. Pressed against his chest, she looked up at him, the poor light not letting her see much, but. . .he was definitely well muscled. Even in the dark she could tell that and felt her face flush as he helped her stand. His scent was slightly musky to her, a heady odor that she found almost intoxicating. Who was this guy?

  Without a word he swept her up in a bridal carry and started moving toward the door, offering her the flashlight as he went.

  “Light the way for us,” he told her.

  So enraptured was she by his presence that it took all her efforts to turn away from him and aim the light down the hall.

  Where had this guy come from?

  -

  “Great, a damn dead end,” Tony muttered as he came to a solid wall. The chamber it opened into was empty and there was nowhere to go but back.

  “I thought places like this had an emergency exit or something,” he muttered as he made his way back toward the entrance way. They needed to find Lucia before some of that Falcone bunch came to 'check' on her.

  He could see a weak light bobbing in the opposite hallway and was about to call out when a much brighter light blasted through the entrance. Though caught by surprise, Tony shut his light off at once, hoping Sean had done the same.

  -

  Sonny shook his head at the dark interior of the old catalyst plant. He had no idea what had been done here in years past, but there was no light from the outside in most places, making the light in his hand a necessity. He checked the van over and found everything still the same before turning the light to the tunnel entrance. He had to hurry and check on the girl so he could catch up to the rest of his family.

  He was looking forward to seeing his ma's face when she found Jamie sitting somewhere talking to a 'floozy'.

  And to Jamie's when he realized how mad their ma was. He was looking at the floor, shaking his head in rye amusement.

  Which was why he didn't see the light coming down the hall from his left.

  -

  “Shut it off,” Sean said at once, using the last second of light to find an opening to duck into. Lucia hurriedly shut the lamp off, holding it in her lap with both hands. Her rescuer hugged the wall with his back, never offering to put her down which was just fine with her. At the moment she felt safer than she ever had in her life for some reason and didn't want that to change.

  Ever.

  “Shhh,” she barely heard him whisper in her ear, and suddenly she was shifting in his arms, her feet angling for the floor. She felt her feet touch the floor and then his hands gently lean her against the wall so she could stand. With that done, she could see a dark outline against the illumination coming down the hallway as Sean Galen pulled an enormous knife from his belt and held it down to his side.

  That illumination, brief though it was, allowed her to get a better of idea of just how tall and broad-shouldered Sean Galen was as well.

  Get a grip, Lucia, she shook her head. This is not the time or the place for this crap!

  -

  Tony hugged the wall, caught out in the open as a man walked into the hallway and turned down the way Sean had gone, a large hand-held spotlight in his hand. The man never bothered to turn the light his way and thus Tony escaped detection.

  The ideal thing to do right then was shoot the guy, but. . .what if there were others with him? If he wasn't the only one then a gunshot might alert the rest.

  Not to mention that if he missed his target in this labyrinth there was no telling where the bullet would go. Including right into Sean Galen.

  Sean is smart, he told himself. No way he didn't see this light coming. He'll know it's too big for the light he gave me.

  He'd let Sean do his thing, he decided. Though he would follow, just in case.

  -

  Lucia was afraid to breathe. She was free and she was determined to stay that way. Now, someone was coming and all that stood between her and whoever was in the hallway was a man she had known for all of five minutes. Maybe ten.

  Sure, he said he knew Antonio, even worked with him, but. . .did that really mean anything? Would a guy who worked in space be a match for one of the people that had killed so many in order to take her?

  If he couldn't, Tony wouldn't have brought him along, she told herself. He's too smart to weight himself down. And he at least holds that knife like he knows what it's for.

  And oh, but he must have been the very biggest boy in whatever school he attended, she decided, looking at those broad shoulders that narrowed so nicely down to. . . .

  Stop it, stop it, stop it! She screamed mentally at herself. For God's sake get a grip! Then she paused in her mental castigation of herself to ponder something else;

  I hope he's good looking.

  And suddenly she heard something clattering down the hallway.

  -

  Tony cursed aloud before he thought as he kicked what sounded like an empty bottle down the hall in front of him.

  “Shit.”

  The light whirled immediately, blinding him as the man turned to look back at the noise. While Tony couldn't see it, he felt certain the man had drawn a gun.

  “Who the hell are you?” the voice demanded.

  -

  Sonny's first thought when he heard the racket behind him was that the girl had somehow gotten loose, and was lost in the dark tunnels of this place. He spun on his heel, expecting to see the girl. Since he was expecting to see her, he didn't even pull his gun.

  Only to find himself confronting a man wearing a casual suit and trying to shield his eyes from the light with a hand.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  -

  Sean seized the moment, not knowing what the guy in the hallway would do. He didn't know if Tony had made all that racket on purpose or not, but he didn't intend to let the chance go. Slipping out of the small side room he had hidden Lucia in, he could see the man's outline clearly in the back-light of the powerful torch he carried.

  A torch now pointed down the hall at Tony, leaving him blinking like an owl in the harsh light.

  -

  “Was'at?” Tony slurred, allowing himself to weave a little. “Huh?”

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Sonny demanded. “This is private property!”

  “Private party ya say?” Tony replied, doing his b
est imitation of a drunk. “I didn't get a name, just someone. . .hic. . .shed dere waz a parrrty,” he slurred out. “Zere a co. . .urp. . .cover charge?”

  “I said private property you drunk asshole!” Sonny shouted. “How the hell did you wind up here?”

  “Frenzsh drop-edy me off,” Tony answered, weaving a little to the other side. “Thaz a great li' show, by da ways. Purrrty,” he drew the word out, still weaving.

  Dammit Sean, where the hell are you!

  “Your friends picked a bad place to drop you off, fella,” Sonny told him matter-of-factly. “I can't let you be in here, wandering around. And I can't let you leave, either. So what can I do with you, now?”

  “It's not him you have to worry about,” a harsh whisper in his ear told him just before a sharp pain hit his right kidney as a powerful arm wrapped around him throat.

  Sonny died never realizing that the guy he'd been talking to wasn't drunk, and wasn't there because of some prank.

  Or that he was looking at his 'victim's' brother.

  -

  “Get your ass down here!” Lucia heard Sean say. “And try not to kick anything else on the way,” he added.

  “Hey, you did it first!” a very familiar voice shot back, no longer sounding drunk.

  “Tony!”

  “Lucy?” Tony called back, his face turning to a mask of shock. “Holy . . . Lucia, is that you?”

  “Oh, Tony!” Lucia came running out of the small room only to run right into a bloody Sean Galen, still holding the massive knife in his hands. She looked down at the still shining light to see. . . .

  “Urk!” she covered her mouth and looked away.

  “Sorry,” she heard Galen offer. She waved a hand to him as she managed to get her empty stomach under control.

  “No, no. It's okay. Bastard deserved it for killing Elena.” By that time Tony was there and took his baby sister in his arms, wrapping her up tight. Relief flooded her as she fell into his chest and began to sob.

  “I was so scared!” she told him, her voice broken from too long without fluids. “She was going to cut me up, Antonio! Cut me up and send me to momma and poppa in pieces!”

  “Shh,” Tony tried to comfort her. “It's okay now, baby sister. I got you. It's all gonna be okay.”