The Doctor lay
on the road.
"Get him into the van," Frank ordered as he backed the van up to where
they were.
"No, no you can't move him," Angie said. "Get an ambulance! Go! I'll
stay with him."
"Put him in the van," Frank argued. "He won't want to get arrested."
"Just call the fucking ambulance and get out of here now!" she snapped.
"Do it!"
As the van drove off Angie knelt by her wounded friend, cradling his
head on her knees. His pulse felt weak and thready under her fingers.
"Angie, get out of here," he said.
"I'm not leaving you," she replied.
"I'm ordering you to go, now! There's no point in us both getting
caught."
"Hush. The ambulance is on its way."
"Good, now get out of here kid. That's an order."
"I'm not leaving you." She stroked his cheek with her hand. Several
more minutes went by. Where the hell was the ambulance, she thought
anxiously?
"I told you I was too old for this," he whispered.
His hand felt like ice, his breathing was becoming more and more shallow.
She felt tears in her eyes. "Please be all right Doc," she said desperately.
He smiled weakly. "Physician heal thy self."
The police arrived on the scene at the same time as the ambulance.
"I can't find his pulse," Angie told the paramedics as she was pulled
away by two uniformed policemen who cuffed her hands behind her back.
The last glimpse she had of The Doctor was through the back window
of the police car, watching as the paramedics covered his face over
with a blanket. ***
Manhattan Central Police Station.
Finlay smiled when he saw Allison sitting in the interview room. Perhaps
if he hadn't been inebriated, he might have realized the petite girl
with the dark shiny hair and the tear stained face wasn't Angie. But
as it was, the thought never even crossed his mind. He was accompanied
by four loyal deputies. Three of them walked into the interview room
with him. The other deputy went into the room behind the two-way mirror
to ensure that Finlay would not be observed by anyone else. Finlay
excused the two officers who had been present when he first arrived,
and closed the door behind them as they left. He nodded to one of
his men who then leant against the door.
Finlay turned his attention to Allison. "I've been looking forward
to seeing you again," he snarled. "I have a few questions."
Two of the officers walked behind Allison, pulled her out of her chair
and held her by her arms. Finlay came up so close that Allison could
smell the alcohol on his breath. "Please take your time answering,"
he said quietly. "I wouldn't want this interview to be over too quickly
you little fuck." He grabbed her by the hair and raised his right
hand.
Allison felt faint. There was a rushing sound in her ears, black spots
in front of her vision, then she found herself lying on the table,
her wrists restrained to each corner.
"You didn't pass out last time we tortured you. Not as tough as you
used to be," Finlay said with a grin. "Pity really. Guess this won't
take too long." He placed his briefcase on the chair and opened it.
"I brought my shock box."
Allison turned her head to look at him, and through tear blurred eyes
saw him connecting some wires to an electrical device. There was a
knock on the door.
"What is it?" Finlay yelled, furious at the interruption.
"Its me, let me in," a man called out from behind the door.
Finlay, recognizing the voice of his colleague, signaled to the deputy
leaning against the door to move away.
"The Doctor's been shot dead," the man said quickly. "And they've
just arrested Ryan." He pointed at the young woman handcuffed to the
table. "That's not her."
Finlay stared at the man in disbelief. "It's a trick."
"No. No trick. You better sort something out quick smart. They're
bringing her here, and the FBI are on their way as well."
"Shit!" He walked over to the table and stared down at Allison. She
resembled Angie very closely, but now he looked carefully, he could
see she wasn't the one. He motioned at one of the officers standing
nearby. "Get the cuffs off. Take her back where you found her."
They released Allison's wrists, and Finlay grabbed her hand pulling
her to a sitting position. "We made a mistake. We're letting you go."
He pulled out his gun and pushed the barrel under her chin. "Don't
tell anyone about this little interview or I'll bury you. That's not
a threat, it's a promise."
Allison was ushered quickly down the corridor by two officers. There
was an open doorway. As they pushed her along she saw a young dark
haired girl, her hands cuffed behind her back, being seated at a table,
surrounded by men in suits. That had to be Angela Ryan. Now it was
obvious why they had mixed the two of them up. For some reason Allison
found herself trying to catch the girl's eye, but the girl was staring
out into the distance as if in a trance. She looked so sad.
The two officers pulled on Allison's arms. "C'mon," one of them said
impatiently. "Or would you prefer to stay here?"
***
McFarlane stood in front of Finlay blocking his entrance into the
area where Angie was being held. "I hear a rumor you wrongfully
arrested someone," McFarlane noted with a grin. "Hope she presses
charges."
"What's the FBI doing here?" Finlay asked, ignoring the comment.
"This is my case now," McFarlane said quietly. "I don't want to
see you anywhere near the kid. Is that clear."
Finlay turned and stomped away without replying.
***
Tarrytown,
New York.
When Allison arrived back at her home, the sun was just starting to
come up, but it was still dark enough that she was able to return
unseen. She entered the grounds via the secret doorway in the hedge,
then climbed up the drainpipe to her bedroom window and made herself
ready for school.
"Hey Allison," Lucy said, spotting her friend walking towards the
classroom and touching her on the shoulder. Allison jumped. "Sorry
Al, I didn't mean to startle you. I saw you out with Nathan last night.
How did it go?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Allison said, starting to walk quickly
away.
Lucy walked faster to keep pace. "God you look awful. Have you been
crying? You look like you haven't slept a wink all night. Come on.
Tell me what happened. Did he come on strong or something?"
Allison stopped. "I just said I don't want to talk about it! Didn't
you hear me or something? I don't want to talk to you. I don't want
to see you. Mind your own business and just leave me alone. Okay?"
Lucy was stunned. Allison was always so polite and friendly. So happy-go-lucky.
She'd never seen her like this before. Something was very wrong.
Lucy approached Nathan during the lunch break. She stood with her
hands on her hips staring up at the tall muscular boy standing in
front of her. "What on earth did you do to Alli?" she demanded angrily.
"Nothing. Why?"
"You've done something to upset her. What was it?"
"I went on a ride without her and she didn't wait for me. I can't
believe that girl."
"You didn't try and come onto her or…"
"I didn't do anything. Where is she? I'll talk to her."
"I think I saw her heading towards the library."
Nathan spotted Allison walking away from the library a few minutes
later. "Hey," Nathan said, catching Allison by the arm. Allison pulled
her arm away.
"Alli, I need to talk to you."
"Fuck off."
"Alli what's wrong?" No one at their school had ever heard Allison
swear.
"Go away."
"Huh?"
"Its an instruction involves you moving yourself from this area to
another area so you're not in this area anymore. Understand go away
now? Would you like me to explain the meaning of jerk to you as well?"
"I'd like you to explain something. What's wrong with you Alli? Why'd
you run off last night?"
"Why didn't you stay with me you asshole?"
"I was only gone for a few minutes. Why didn't you wait?"
"If you'd been there you'd know why." She pushed past him and tried
to walk hurriedly away.
He kept up with her. "Did something happen Alli?"
"Please, just leave me alone."
Nathan started to try and say something, then stopped. Allison walked
quickly away without looking back.
Lucy found her friend crying in the locker room that afternoon after
class. She sat down on the bench next to her. "Alli, can't you tell
me what's wrong?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Okay, but I'm still your friend." She put her hand on Allison's hand.
Allison swallowed hard. "Have you ever had a really bad nightmare?
You know like so bad you can hardly breathe? You can't get away and
it just gets worse and worse and worse? And then you wake up and realize
it was just a dream, and you feel so relieved. So glad it wasn't real.
You had dreams like that Lucy?"
"Occasionally."
"Imagine if you had a nightmare like that and you didn't wake up.
Imagine if it didn't stop."
Lucy shivered. She waited for Allison to continue, but her friend
was silent.
That night in bed, although having had no sleep for more than twenty-four
hours, Allison was restless. She kept thinking about what had happened
to her. And she thought about what could have happened. She also thought
about the other girl. The one with the sad blue eyes who looked so
much like her. What was happening to Angela Ryan? Was Finlay tying
her down to that table right now? Setting up his "shock box"? Looking
down at her through his narrow slit like snake eyes. Smiling his ugly
smile. The more Allison thought about Angela Ryan, the more she wanted
to know that she was okay. She needed to know. But how could she ever
find out?
There was no way in the world she could bring herself to even set
foot in that place again. Perhaps she could telephone her. Phone up
a jail? She wouldn't even know how to do it. And they probably wouldn't
let her take the call anyway. You probably had to be a relative or
something..........
Copyright 2001 by Ester Carney
"Avenging Angel" is a contemporary fiction novel with a tough female
lead, and is available on-line. It's a story about a teenage girl
looking for her father - a man she has never met. She has a list of
12 people and he could be any one of those 12. During her search,
Angie is relentlessly pursued by ruthless enemies. To make matters
worse she inadvertently commits a crime, escapes from custody, and
is hunted by the police.
"Avenging Angel" can be downloaded in eBook format by visiting http://www.atlanticbridge.net/publishing/store_1action.htm
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