How I Met Your Mother Ch. 06

"If you need to go you can use that." Verity hissed, focusing her attention on the traffic around them once more. "Now shut up or I'll kneecap you." Andrew tried to suppress the chuckle in his throat.

****

"Andy's mom will look after the kids for the evening." Leah murmured as she looked inside the duffel bag between her feet. "I'm just glad that they are still young enough not to pick up on some of this..."

"Shouldn't we be calling for backup?" Suri asked as she steered the car. Leah shook her head, trying to focus.

"If this Keira character is as professional as she seems to be she'll kill Andrew at the first sign of trouble." She replied as she held the cell phone in her hands. "They're heading north..."

"Okay, you still haven't explained how we're following them." Suri said, negotiating the traffic as best as she could. Leah gestured towards the cell phone.

"About a month ago Andy got this screwy idea to get that partner tracker thing for both of our mobile phones – he said it would allow me to keep track of him while he's working so I knew he hadn't wandered off out of the house." Leah explained. "He's got this thing when he gets writer's block where he goes for a walk and disappears for anything up to several hours at a time. I freaked out the first time it happened – turns out that it's a regular occurrence with him and he just never told me about it. Said he didn't want me to worry, and he never does it when the kids are at home. I didn't think that it actually worked...until now."

"Really? Some crappy downloadable application actually has a purpose?"

"As long as the phone is switched on this application will track it in a rudimentary way," She shook her head. "I thought it was abit too stalkerish originally, but right now I'm eternally grateful for it." As they broke free from the city traffic, Leah felt the engine in the car surge, additional power being directed to the main drive shaft with the increased pressure from Suri's foot.

"How are you holding up?" Suri asked. Leah shook her head.

"Don't ask me that." She muttered. "Seriously, I'm barely keeping it together right now." Leah looked out of the window. "You know, I thought I'd gotten this clear in my mind along time ago – I'd imagined every worst case scenario I could think of but there was always the one constant factor that I always knew if I fell apart Andy was always going to be there to help me through...to pick up the pieces...but...I've got this sinking feeling about this; like everything is going to go wrong." She tried to wipe away the tears that were starting to roll down her cheek. "What do I tell the kids? What do I tell his mother? Or his sisters?" Leah shook her head. "Suri, if this woman does anything to Andy I'm going to kill her, you understand that, right?"

"Leah, you know that I'm here to arrest her," Suri replied. Leah nodded but her face told Suri a radically different story. "But I'll be the first one turning a blind eye if something happens to Andrew." Leah looked out of the window, the knot in her stomach getting ever tighter with each passing minute.

****

Upper Arley

Worcestershire

The final few embers of the sun illuminated the sky as it dropped towards the horizon. Pushing herself from the kitchen to the living room, Jane carefully balanced the tray that her microwave dinner was balanced upon. Skilfully guiding herself into position in front of the television, she locked the brakes of the wheelchair in place before picking up the fork. The pasta dish tasted like a bizarre hybrid of cheese and cardboard. After the third forkful she realised that she would need something to drink afterwards to wash away the taste from her mouth.

Something strong.

The television blared into life, falling on one of the preset news channels she had taken to watching recently. Since choosing this self-imposed isolation after events in the hospital over one of the more populated locations available to her, Jane had found herself becoming increasingly cut off from the outside world.

If she was brutally honest, she didn't miss it. After the attempt on her life she reasoned that she would probably remain a threat to others around her for as long as she continued to experience flashbacks to her previous life. A life that was radically different to what she dealt with on a daily basis now.

A life before her chair.

Finishing her meal, Jane moved back into the kitchen. After throwing the plastic carton into the bin she opened one of the cupboards and reached inside for a bottle. Her hand seemed to instinctively reach for the vodka. Dispensing with the idea of a glass, she returned to the living room and picked up her lukewarm cup of coffee. Unscrewing the lid of the vodka bottle and dumping a reasonably sized serving into the cup, the mixture of alcohol and caffeine burned on its way down her throat.

****

"Shit." Leah exclaimed. "I've lost the signal."

"What's happened?" Suri said as she expertly weaved between the lines of traffic.

"They must be somewhere with poor signal coverage – last signal was just over the county border into Worcestershire." She muttered. "Great, so now I have to hope that they pop up again soon..."

"Leah, we'll find them." Suri tried to reassure her. "We'll keep heading in that direction until your phone picks them up again."

"Yeah, I guess." Leah sounded dejected, defeated almost. "I'm calling Emma Gilson at the office – just in case."

****

By the time of her third drink, Jane could feel that she was well on the way to getting drunk. The sound of someone knocking her door made her look at the clock.

6:52pm

The relative isolation of Upper Arley was one of the main things that had attracted her to it as a place to live. With a population of less than 700 and a wide variety of properties that were set in large tracts of land, Jane knew that it would provide the perfect place to stay out of sight for the foreseeable future. Placing her cup on the table, she wheeled herself around to the door. Reaching up to remove the chain and the bolt, she opened it.

She saw the figure of a man standing in her doorway – who was then violently pushed into her. "What the fu...?" The collision knocked her backwards and obviously came as something of a surprise to him as well, mainly due to his strained cry upon crashing into her. As she came to her senses she realised that there was a second person standing in the room with them now – and she was pointing a sleek, deadly looking pistol directly at Jane. She threw something onto the floor next to the stranger who had hit her chair.

"You – tie her wrists to the arms of the wheelchair," she barked as she closed the door, taking the time to lock it as the man did as she ordered. "Good – now push her into the back room there." He wheeled her out of the living room and past the kitchen, taking a left turn into what was actually Jane's bedroom. As soon as she was in place, the man stepped back – only to be knocked forwards face-first onto the bed. The redhead mounted his back, grabbing his arm and wrenching it sharply backwards, then repeated the move with his other arm and secured his wrists with a similar plastic zip-tie that had been used on Jane's wrists.

The woman disappeared from the room, leaving them alone for a moment.

"Sorry about all this." The man said. "I'm Andy, I'd shake your hand, but...""

"Jane." She replied. "What the fuck is going on?"

"No idea, but if I had to hazard a guess..." He cut himself off as the redhead re-entered the room, carrying a chair Jane recognised from her kitchen. She wasn't sure why she still kept it – for the occasional, non-existent visitor she presumed. Slamming it down, she dragged Andrew from the bed and dumped him on it. She then turned around to face Jane.

"You're Grace Cook, right?" Jane shook her head.

"No, no, not any more." She replied. The woman in front of her pulled a picture out of her jacket pocket, holding it up to Jane's face. It was like looking into a mirror.

"Well, however you are now, you were once Grace Cook." She spat. "And for that, someone wants you dead." Jane's head slumped slightly.

"Blevins sent you, right?" A flash of recognition ran across the redhead's face at the mention of the name.

"You're a smart cookie, so when it comes to it I'll make it quick," The redhead replied. "However, right now I need to try and get my life back before it's too late." Without uttering another word the woman left the bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

"Okay, as I was saying, I think loony tune there is here to kill you." Andrew continued from where he left off.

"I sort of figured that out, thanks." Jane replied. "So, what are you doing here?"

"It seems that I'm herget-out-of-jail-freecard." He added as he wriggled around in his seat. "Well, we appear to have some time on our hands. So, what's your story...?"

****

Sulphurous words filled the air as Verity tried to get a signal on the phone. Walking towards the exit, she stepped out into the early evening air and watched for some sign of life from the device. The moment one small bar appeared her fingers dialled a number she had found in Gosling's phone and committed to memory. Bringing it to her ear, Verity waited for the call to be connected.

"Blevins, this is Verity Ward." Her voice was forceful and authoritative. "I'm just about to deal with your last little problem, but before I do I need you to do something for me first..."

****

Sitting in the car, driving through Worcestershire, the ring tone tore through the silence. Almost fumbling it away as she answered it, Leah looked at the display.

"Emma, tell me you have some good news."

"I've picked up your husband's mobile phone signal again thirty seconds ago – its weak and I haven't been able to get a solid lock on it, but I'm sending the details to your phone." Emma Gilson explained from her desk in a quiet corner of the impersonal office. "There are two buildings within five hundred metres of the signal; a farmhouse and what looks like an over-grown bungalow. I'm sorry that I can't be anymore specific than that."

"That's more than enough Emma, thank you." Leah replied.

"Boss, I can have a team there in an hour..." Emma offered.

"No, you've already done enough as it is – I can handle it from here on in. Besides, this was a favour and I don't want you getting into trouble on my part – you could get fired for this." Leah balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she pulled a pair of gloves free from her bag. "I'll speak to you later Emma. I owe you one." She ended the call and looked at the display on the small screen. Taking a USB cable from the satellite navigation system and plugging it into the device, the data was transmitted onto the in-car system.

"I'll take the farmhouse," Suri said. "You take the bungalow – it's the nearer of the two."

****

"...so, from what I understand," Jane said. "Blevins was contracting out the skills of his team members to the highest bidder. Foreign nationals, organised crime figures, political dissidents, corporate takeovers; he was gas-lighting the team with intelligence reports and profile briefings so they thought everything they were doing was above board."

"When in reality it was all off-the-books, right?" Andrew added. "A sort of knock-down priced contract killing operation for a fraction of the cost of the open market version." Jane nodded.

"You're a fast learner." She said. "Everything was going swimmingly until one of his junior staff cottoned on to it." She replied with a sick, sad sounding laugh. "She was auditing the monthly expenses claims when she picked up on a discrepancy in the payment profile for Blevins himself – he'd submitted a claim for a business trip to Oslo when he was supposed to be in the office. After she had dug around abit – a quick cross-reference here, a few phone calls there – she realised that his trip coincided with that of a leader of a radical Hungarian political party by the name of Gurgarov." She shook her head. "She found video footage of Blevins and Gurgarov having dinner together; two days later, Gurgarov's primary political opponent was found dead from a suspected drug overdose, removing Gurgarov's last obstacle in his bid for election to the Hungarian parliament. There were travel documents on file authorising an operative to travel to Hungary to eliminate a member of a terrorist cell that Blevins had authorised..."

"...who just happened to match the description of Gurgarov's political opponent, right? Let me guess what follows next; she decides to blow the whistle on it all and Blevins has her killed?" Andrew said. Jane nodded, the motion of her movements made her chair move slightly.

"I...I think I killed her – plus the bodyguards that had been assigned to protect her – and I don't really remember that much of it." Neither of them spoke for a minute. "Then I had my accident and the rest is all so much fuzzy history. I've already had one person try to kill me since then – I've sort of been expecting this sort of thing to happen."

"Okay, so at least we know why little Miss Stone-Cold-Killer is here," Andrew said. "The issue is what do we do about it?" He began to move his hands, feeling the plastic tie digging into his flesh.

"What are you trying to do?" Jane responded to his question with one of her own.

"Well, as much as I'd like to think my wife is currently trying to find me and bringing the cavalry to boot, I'm a firm believer in making your own luck." The look on his face was a mixture of concentration and reactions to the painful consequences of his movements. "I read something once that these plastic zip-lock things have a tendency to fail if you can just get the little insert section to twist ninety degrees..." There was the sound of movement outside the door, prompting Andrew to stop what he was doing. The barrier to the room opened and Verity entered.

"Well, good news boys and girls, this little ordeal will soon be over." The glee in her voice was clear to hear. "For me, this means I'll be able to leave the country safe in the knowledge that my face isn't on the top ten most wanted boards of every law enforcement agency in the Western world. For you, however, it does mean that your lives will be coming to an end. So I suggest you make your peace with whatever God you follow because it won't be long before you go to meet your maker kiddies!" The door slammed shut once more, leaving Andrew and Jane alone.

"At least someone seems chipper about all this." Jane muttered. "So, what now? We just wait for her to kill us?" Jane asked. Andrew looked at her and smiled.

"Well, I'm all for getting out of here." he said, pulling his hands around from his back and demonstrating clearly that he had been able to escape his shackles.

"Please tell me you have some sort of plan."

"Actually I do." Andrew replied, standing up from the chair and stretching his legs out to ward off cramp. "Have you got anything in here that can help us?"

"Top draw of the bedside cabinet. Be careful – it squeaks abit." Jane answered. Andrew walked across to it and pulled it open as gently as possible. As he looked down at the contents of the draw his face lit up.

"Oh yes – that's my second favourite battery-operated device to find in a woman's bedside cabinet."

****

"...and what time does that flight leave?" Verity was scribbling down the details on a piece of paper. "Fantastic – thanks for your help, I'll see you soon." She switched the phone off and tossed it onto the counter in the kitchen. Her momentary sense of relief was shattered by the sound of something heavy falling over in the bedroom. Scooping up her gun, she shook her head in mock despair. "Well, no time like the present I guess."

Opening the door to the bedroom she could see that her target was still in her wheelchair, however the window to the room was now open. The chair she had placed Andrew in was now tipped over and the plastic zip tie was on the floor. Glaring at Jane, Verity stepped forward, raising her firearm.

"Tell me he's gone out of the window." She hissed. Jane looked at her.

"Actually, he's behind the door there." Jane replied.

"You don't honestly expect me to fall..." The words were cut off mid-sentence as something was jabbed against Verity's neck. The surge of electricity suddenly coursing through her body from the two electrodes touching her skin caused muscles to spasm, resulting in an errant gun shot cannoning into the floor. Her jaw locked into place, grinding her teeth together as the current flowed through her physique. Almost as quickly as it had started, it was over – the five second charge from the stun gun has dissipated and Verity Ward collapsed to the floor, rendered immobile.

"Grab the gun!" Jane cried out as Andrew stepped out from behind the door, holding the stun gun in his hand. Verity lay on the bedroom floor, twitching wildly with strange, garbled sounds coming out of her mouth. "Quickly! I don't know how long she'll be out for." Andrew managed to pry the pistol free from Verity's grasp, handing it to Jane. "Now tie her to the chair."

"Jesus you're bossy," Andrew said as he tried to lift Verity into the chair. He turned around and saw that Jane was holding out the two plastic ties that he'd removed from her own wrists just prior to creating their trap. "No wonder someone is trying to kill you." He said as he secured Verity's wrists as best as he could – her muscle spasms were less violent now although her head was lolling back against the back of the chair, making her eyes roll back into her head. He placed his fingers against the pulse in her neck. "She's still alive."

"Shock her again." Jane said. Andrew looked at her.

"That's not necessary."

"I don't care if it's necessary, the bitch was going to kill me; shock her again."

"No." Andrew responded with hisDadvoice – the one the kids encountered when he was putting his foot down. "I won't stoop to that level."

"Well I will – give me the stun gun and I'll..."

"I said no." Andrew barked at her. "Now, let's see if we can sort out some sort of help here."

****

Without looking back at Suri as she drove off, Leah moved as quickly as she could towards the bungalow. By the time she had reached the perimeter of the property her heart was beating faster. Trying to calm her breathing, she could feel the cold nervous sweat breaking out on her forehead. Gripping tightly on the butt of the pistol in her right hand she started to skirt around the house, looking for a suitable entry point.

The sound of a single gunshot rang out in the evening air and Leah charged towards the building, fearing the worst.

****

"Found my phone." Andrew called out as Jane wheeled herself out of the bedroom. "There's no bloody signal in here – I'm going to try outside." Andrew headed directly for the front door.

"Great – I need the toilet." Jane said, rotating herself around in a tight circle and heading off to the small room at the back of the building.

As he opened the door and stepped out onto the small porch, a sudden movement to his right caught him off-guard. He turned and found himself looking straight at his wife.

"Leah..."

"Oh God..." Leah threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Her momentum knocked them both to the ground. She kissed him passionately. "Jesus...I was so worried..."

"I can't believe..." Andrew replied, surprised at the strength of her hold on him. "I thought...I hoped..."

"Where is she?" Leah said. Andrew saw something switching over in her mind.

"In the house, tied to a chair." Leah helped Andrew to his feet, and then he saw that she was holding a gun in her hand. "Its okay – everything is under control." He reached for the front door, opening it and allowing Leah to cross the threshold. "I managed to..."