Trapped : The Island of Torment

Chapter 22 : Rising Tensions

The manor's foyer was staffed with Secret Service agents, all guarding the manor's entrance to prevent dangerous individuals from entering the manor properly. A team of agents of mixed genders approached, some carrying metal detectors but all had their weapons holstered. The agents followed the procedure, using the metal detectors to scan the four from head to toe. They then patted them down to double check and once they were clear the agent who had introduced himself as Timothy Brock appeared, alongside a more senior agent. Andrew Barrowman has been serving Jeffery since he became president and has never left, which earned the man's trust as they both became friends and looked out for one another. 

"So you are the adopted children of the former First Gentleman." he mused. "And aside from Mr Thomas, are placed under suspicion due to your association with the woman who tried to kill the former president." Andrew had been kept informed of Isabella's safety after she was shot in the chest by Selina Kyle. "We'll be watching you." he added. With that out of the way the four passed under the watchful eyes of Barrowman and Brock. Alfred led them into the living room, where he then excused himself to prepare tea for them. 

"What do we do now?" the female asked. "We believed too much in Selina and not much in Isabella." 

"It is still possible to reconcile with Isabella?" 

"My daughter suffered a miscarriage while grieving for her father and after receiving the news. Do you expect that I will forgive you all?" a female voice was heard. A woman walked in, wearing a jacket over a white shirt and black pants. Her gaze was penetrating and fierce, which would have caused them to wonder who she was, but her statement of 'My daughter' and her pair of blue-gold eyes, led them to realize that they had come face-to-face with Alice Kim, Isabella's mother. The young woman was struck by the woman's height, as Alice is six feet one, a foot higher than her daughter Isabella, as well as her authoritative voice. 

Isabella had inherited much of her personality and temperament from her mother, who was painfully ripped from her when she was only fifteen, and was resurrected years after Isabella reached adulthood. Alice too was saddened when she was taken from her daughter at such a young age, but was proud to see her now, all grown up and having a successful career of her own. The man Alfred addressed as Master Todd rose from his chair and Alice was not hesitant to face him and stare him down. She had cut her teeth on the high seas, under threat from enemies during the Gulf War which they often threatened to sink the ship with her and her crew on it. "God forbid that I grant forgiveness to people like you who have hurt my daughter." she said. 

"Mrs Reagan." Alfred enters the living room, breaking the tension in the room. "Would you like to have some tea?" Alice contemplated turning down the offer, but she knew Alfred well enough that she decided to rein in her temper following the outburst, and sat down by the couch. Placing the tea tray on the table the elderly butler begins to pour tea for them, but Alice stops him. 

"I appreciate your effort Alfred, but I can handle this." Alice said. She poured the tea into five cups, handing the first cup to the man Alfred addressed as Mr Thomas. "Here." she said, handing the still-warm porcelain cup and saucer to the man. With the formality out of the way Alice leaned back, taking a sip of the warm beverage with her eyes closed, using her taste buds to enjoy the tea. She can still remember her daughter's tears when the doctor told her that she had a miscarriage, her soft sobbing in the dead of night. Alice knew that she had never got to stop the first and second attacks that had threatened her daughter's life, and this third attempt to drag her name through the mud was enough to make her blood boil once more. "Why are you here?" she asked, placing the cup and saucer on the table and looking at the four of them. 

"We're worried about Bruce, and Isabella."

"Don't you ever utter my daughter's name." Alice snarled. "You do not deserve to speak of her name after what you have done." 

"Maybe it's best that I'll do the talking." Alice quietly cooled down, as Isabella had done her best to rein in her outburst towards the members of the Batfamily, because she knew that not all of them had trusted what Selina had said to them at the party, and Duke Thomas, is one of those who did not believe in what she said, nor was he even at the party to begin with. "We're justly worried about Bruce and Isabella. But we have no leads to begin with, so we thought that Wayne Manor would be a great place to start." With Duke now leading the conversation Alice has no choice but to rein in her anger once more. Even though Alice had known about the Batfamily's line of work and respected their judgements but this time when they believed in Selina Kyle's lies which dragged her daughter's name through the mud Alice had begun to question it as people like them would not have taken her words at face value.

"I appreciate you and the... family's efforts in showing concern Duke." Alice said. "But Bruce had already located where Isabella had been taken and... knowing my son-in-law's love for my daughter, he would have never sat idling by." 

"Wait... you mean that..." Alice smiled as she took the cup and saucer in hand. 

"I don't approve it... but that's Bruce for you." she said. "We'll have to mount our own rescue mission if necessary, considering that the American military was not provided with concrete information regarding my daughter and son-in-law's disappearance."