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  One they were sure that they were safe, the people who had been hiding ventured out.

  Everyone wondered where Solana and Dominica had gone.

  Taylor sent out a search party. Five men took a vehicle and went to town. Three others hitch-hiked, and the two groups met at a diner, acting like they didn't know each other. One of them had bought a newspaper, and they casually discussed the news. The leader of the full group, a man named Luther, asked their waitress, a short, stout middle-aged lady with fiery, curly red hair and bright red lipstick,

  "This news is not interesting me. What's the big news around town?"

  "You haven't heard?" the waitress asked as she handed out glasses of sweet tea. "There was a family that was kidnapped this week. A whole family! First it was two boys and their parents, and a girl was kidnapped from a hotel later that day. It's been the talk of the town ever since!" She hurried off to get the orders of more customers.

  Luther turned and winked at his trusty second-in-command, Robin, who winked in return.

 

 

The cells at the police station were extremely small and soundproof, but that didn't stop Solana and Dominica. Each of them had found blank from previous prisoners in their cells, and using pens that Solana always had handy, passed notes to each other through cracks in the wall separating their cells.

  Two days passed with nothing to do except sleep, write notes, or lie on cots, bored out of their minds. Various notes from Jimenitz to both of them read:

                                         You ready to talk?

                                            or:

                                        You going to spill the beans?

                                            or:

                                        Does the thought of death loosen your lips?

  The answer they had agreed on?

  KNOCK-KNOCK.

  The firm knocks on his office door made Jimenitz jump from his position bent over some important papers. "Come in," he growled.

  Dale Irving came in. "They finally decided to answer your notes, Chief."

  "Is that so?" Jimenitz asked a pleased look in his eyes.

  "Yes, Chief." Dale handed him two pieces of folded paper and left the room.

  Jimenitz closed his eyes and gave a sigh of pleasure as he unfolded the papers and laid them on his desk.

When he opened them, two pieces of paper stared up at him, with these answers written on them.  

   

                                   No, our lips are zipped, pal.

 

 Jimenitz got out of his seat, furious. "Dale!" he yelled. "What is the meaning of this?"

  A confused Dale ran into the room. "The meaning of what, Chief?"

  "This!" Jimenitz pushed the papers at his favorite aide. "Explain why tow impudent brats are ruining my dignity!"

  "I...don't...I don't.....I don't know!" Dale stammered, still confused.

  "Find out! Now!" Jimenitz pointed to the door of his office.

  "Yes Chief! Yes sir!" Dale ran out the door.

  Dominica heard it all down in her cell. She quickly scribbled a note and pushed it through a crack in the wall ti Solana.

  Sounds like there's a bit of a tiff going on upstairs.

  Solana answered:

  Yeah, I wonder why.

  Dominica replied:

  Ditto.

  "Get the prisoners from cells numbers 37 and 39," came a voice.

  "Yes, sir."

  Dominica heard a key turning in her door lock. She sat on her cot, closed her eyes, and leaned against the wall.

  A police officer entered. "Come with me," he said in a firm voice.

  Dominica stayed in her exact position. "No."

  An iron grip settled on her arm. "Now."

  Dominica stood up, opened her eyes, and faced the officer boldly. "I said, NO. Did you not hear me?”

  The officer tugged on her. "Come along. I know my orders."

  Dominica suddenly became defensive. Her left fist connected with the officer's chin, and he dropped like a stone, releasing the grip on her arm. She raced out the door, startling Irving and three other officers. Pushing past them, and sped down the hall.

  "Get her!" Irving yelled. "She's escaping!"

  Solana who had already been led out of her cell, heard the first shot. She saw Dominica turn to see her progress, saw her eyes widen, saw her clutch her stomach, saw her fall.

  "Dominica!" Solana screamed. "Noooooo!!!!"

 

    "How is the patient, Jessamine?" asked Jeremy Davidson.

   "She is stabilized, Doctor," the nurse answered. "When will you be doing surgery?"

   "As soon as I can," he replied. "In about two hours, hopefully. Can you prepare?"

   "Yes, Doctor."Jessamine went back into the surgical ward.

   When the doctor returned, he asked, "Is she still doing OK?"

  "She's still stable," the nurse reported.

   "Not for long." Jeremy shook his head. "I've done this kind of surgery many times in my career, and hardly any of my patients survived."

   As he turned to the form on the operating table, Jessamine smiled slyly.

 

   Are you doing OK there?

   Yeah, somewhat.

   How's your companion?

   Mortally wounded or dead. Get over here before I'm like her!

  Be patient. Where is she?

  Campbell City Hospital, bottom floor. Why?

  Be patient.

 

  Luther sat up from his slouched position on his seat and opened his eyes. "Let's go."

  Robin, who had finished paying for their meal, came over. "I'm ready."

  Luther stood up. "Come on, guys. Let's get some rooms at a hotel."

  Followed by Robin and three others, Luther walked out of the diner. Only their waitress noticed the slip of paper that fell out of Robin's pocket. She picked it up, read it, and hurried to the back, her face pale.

  "Manager!" she called.

 

  It was at the hotel that Robin discovered the paper was gone. He told Luther, who pursed his lips and whispered to Robin, who nodded understandingly.

 

  Officer Isaiah Fay looked up from where he was doing work at the front desk as the front door opened. An average-sized young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes and wearing a uniform which informed the officer that he worked at Jake's Southern Diner, came in.

  "I have news," he burst out, jumping into an explanation of the slip of paper found at the diner.

  Fay read the slip of paper a few times. "Might be a decoy," he murmured. "But for what?" He dismissed the excited young man, turned to his radio and put all the patrol cars in the city on the alert for sudden attacks.

  When his replacement, Marian Ramon, arrived, he warned her of the possible attack on the police station. Then he put the rest of the station on the alert.

  When the time that had been planned for the attack came and went, nothing happened. However, the officers were no fools, and watched out anyways.

  Around midnight, the front desk's telephone rang. Officer Ramon immediately answered it.

  "Yes?"

  A frantic voice crackled on the answering end. "Quick! The hospital has been attacked and we need help!"

  "We're on our way!" Marian cut off the connection and pressed a button. Red lights flashed around the station. She spoke into a speaker.

  "Ten officers on duty needed to help with Campbell City hospital defense!"

  Sirens wailing, three police cars raced to the aid of the hospital.

 

  Jessamine placed a hand on her patient's stomach. "Get up, and follow me."

  Dominica felt the cool touch and the warm energy that spread through her body.

  Jessamine took off all the tubes attached to her. "The hospital is being attacked. Come with me; we need to escape." She opened the window and pushed Dominica out...right into Luther's arms.

  "Come, Dominica. You too, Jessamine," he said. "We need to get to the main building while most of the officers on duty are gone."

  Robin and the six others who had been at the diner joined them as they hurried off.

  "The main force is coming off the attack," he informed Luther.

  The group ducked behind a clump of bushes as the police cars sped to the scene of the attack, and then went on.

 

Marian Ramon looked up as the front door opened, half-expecting to see fellow officers with prisoners from the hospital attack come in.

  Instead, she saw a group of people dressed in black come in. Before she could send out the alarm, one of them quickly came over and knocked her out.

  "Stay here," the leader ordered one of his men. "The rest of you, get your guns ready."

  They crept along the halls in the station, meeting no police officers until they came to Jimenitz's office. They were walking by this room when they heard a voice.

  "Stop where you are."

  The leader of the attackers stopped. "Who's there? Come out!"

  No one came out.

  Luther opened the door wide. Light burst into the dark hall, showing Jimenitz eight men dressed in black.

  Jimenitz was standing behind his desk, arms behind his back and his legs apart. "I was expecting you."

  Luther showed no surprise. "That's nice. What do you want?"

  "I should be asking you that question," Jimenitz answered matter-of-factly. "What do you want here in my station?"

  "My purpose here matters not," Luther crisply replied. "What do you want?"

  "I want to know why you are in my station," Jimenitz said in a commanding tone. "That is what I want."

  "You shall never know," Luther said.

 "Will you answer with a gun to your head?" Jimenitz asked in a cool, but threatening, tone.

 Luther lifted his chin defiantly. "No."

 "What if I throw you in prison for a month with no food?" Jimenitz inquired.

 Luther motioned behind his back for his men to leave as he shut the door. "No. You can try, though."

  "I think it would be better for me to put a gun to your head,” Jimenitz said as she pulled his gun from his belt and pointed it at Luther.

  From beneath his black cloak, Luther produced his own gun. "If you kill me, you will never get the answer, because everyone else will be gone and you will have no prisoners."

 Jimenitz lowered his gun. "You have a point...Luther."

 Luther's face was stony still. It was hard to surprise him. "You're smarter than I think you are."

 Jimenitz raised his eyebrow. "Are you insulting me?"

 "No." Luther smiled. It was an odd smile. "That was a compliment."

 "Oh," Jimenitz replied, his face showing no expression.

 They stood silent for one moment, looking at each other.

 Finally, Luther said,

 "Well, are we just going to stand here?"

 Jimenitz chuckled wryly. "If you want to stop standing...." he paused..."I'd be glad to help."

 "Thanks, but...I'd prefer to stand," Luther said.

 Jimenitz raised his eyebrow as he walked around the desk and, standing beside Luther, lifted the gun to the side of his head. "Are you going to tell me your business here?"

 "No," Luther said.

 Jimenitz slowly and deliberately pulled the trigger.

 

 Solana woke from a fitful sleep when someone whispered through her cell door window, "Solana, get up, get your things, and come with me."

  Solana said, "Who's there?"

  "It's Robin. We've come to take you away. And you need to hurry, so we can get upstairs and get Luther some help. Jimenitz is a tricky one, you know."

 The cell door swung open, and Solana grabbed her few belongings and crept out.

 Robin handed her a package. "Put this cloak on and pull it over your face so that no one recognizes you."

 Solana did as she was told. "How much time do we have to escape? How did you find me?"

 Robin pushed her down the hall. "That's better saved for later. We need to hurry."

 They ran down the hall.

 Suddenly, Robin stopped. "I heard something."

 "What?" asked one of the men.

 Robin turned to face them. "It sounded like a...gunshot."

 Solana breathed, "Oh no. Luther!"

 They all sped down the hall at top speed.

 

 Isaiah Fay had returned to the station.

 The instant he walked in the door, he knew something was wrong. Marian Ramon was lying on the floor, unconscious.

 And there was a man in black standing over her.

 "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

 The man's face was hidden by his cloak hood. He did not reply.

 Fay pulled out his gun. "Tell me-now."

 The man turned to look at him, still not answering.

 Fay pulled the trigger. "If you're not going to tell me, I'll-" His threat was cut short by a tall  man, dressed in black clothes and a black cloak, who came through the door and grabbed him, then pinching the back of his neck. Fay collapsed to the ground.

 The man who had knocked him out turned to the one guarding Ramon. "Can you handle two?" he asked in a deep, muffled voice.

 The guard nodded. "I can." He nodded towards the door. "Better get back to your place. There are more officers coming. There are too many for us to deal with, though. We might be able to get away with two or three, but..." His voice trailed off.

 His companion ducked outside, back into the bush from whence he had come.

 The man guarding Fay and Ramon dragged them under the desk and bound them with some rope that he had handy. Then he ducked down behind the desk to await more officers.

 

Jamie Sumner got out of the patrol car. "Where is everyone? Almost all of the cars are gone!"

 His patrol mate, Seth Patrick, pulled out his radio just in case he needed it. "I heard something about an attack on the hospital..it's a pretty serious thing, so a lot of officers were needed to help out."

  Sumner's sharp eyes caught movement in the bushes. "Hold it..something's wrong. There's someone hiding in the bushes, and the front room's lights aren't on."

  Patrick pulled out his gun and flashlight. "Let me check and see who it is."

  Sumner stopped him. "Hold it, Seth. That person is probably a criminal."

 "Really? As if that wasn't obvious!" Patrick replied sarcastically.

 Sumner rolled his eyes as he drew his gun. "Come on, let's go and catch this person..together."

 

 Scott pushed back his hood and shook out his shoulder length dirty blonde hair. He drank deeply of the fresh night air, then replacing his hood.

 His head turned when he heard a car door slam nearby. Then he heard two male voices whose owners, after a few minutes, started moving toward the station cautiously.

 Quietly, Scott pulled out his hand held radio and turned it on. 'Dan,' he whispered into it, 'watch out. There's a couple more coming your way.'

  'Thanks for the warning,' Dan whispered back. 'What should I do?'

  Scott paused to check the position of the police officers. 'Uh...hide and hope they don’t find you. If they do, run. Prisoners don't matter. The others may need help downstairs.'

  'Got it,' Dan replied in a hushed voice.

 

  Sumner and Patrick were watched carefully by Scott as they came up toward the bushes he was hiding in.

  "We know you're there!" Sumner called out. "Come out, or we'll shoot!"

 Scott rolled his eyes, but knew that it was best to come out.

 Sumner held up his gun as Scott emerged.

 "Hands up," Patrick ordered.

 Scott silently obeyed.

 "Tell us who you are," Sumner said.

 "No," Scott replied quietly, but defiantly.

 "Don't make me shoot you," Patrick said as he pointed his gun at their prisoner.

 "I'm not making you," Scott answered. "It's your choice whether or not you need to shoot. I'm just answering your questions."

 Sumner and his partner came closer to Scott.

 Scott did some quick thinking. I can't let them get inside and see Dan. I have to do something before all the other officers come back. But what?

Before he could act, Sumner and Patrick grabbed him and hauled him into the station. 

 Dan peeked out from behind the desk, and Scott jerked his head in an attempt to get him to hide again. But Patrick saw him.

 "Take him, Sumner!" he yelled. "There's another!" He dove after Dan.

 Dan stood and tried to get away, but Patrick grabbed him.

 "Come on, let's lock them up!" Sumner called as he hurried off.

 Scott and Dan gave no trouble as they were hauled down to the cells and locked up.

 

 

 

 Click.

 Luther raised his eyebrow. "If you're planning to shoot somebody, I think that you would want the gun to be loaded."

 Ignoring the comment, Jimenitz pulled the trigger again and again and again.

 Click, click, click.

 Luther opened the door and slipped out. He ran down the hall.

 Jimenitz grabbed bullets and quickly loaded his gun. He turned off his office light and locked the door after he slipped out, then hurrying after Luther.

 Luther heard his pursuer gaining on him, and a gunshot.

 Luther tripped and fell face down.

 When Jimenitz caught up with him, Luther was lying on the ground. He was still.

 Jimenitz used the toe of his boot to nudge the still form over.

 Luther's hand was clutched to his chest. His eyes were closed and he was not breathing.

 "Served you right, "Jimenitz said as he pushed the body aside and ran on down the hall.