Progressive Properties is aggressively taking over where small neighborhoods once flourished. Now Angelique's Shelter, St. Gabriel's, is under attack. Who shows up at her door to deliver the news? John McDougal, now a prominent property attorney, an...
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Angelique flew through the back road that led to the Church. Silently calling out to Gabriel again, although she already knew he would not answer. She was alone in this, and that's exactly how she would face Danny.
Angelique pulled her car in front of the rectory, parked, and tried desperately to swallow the fear that lumped in her throat. She would have to go the rest of the way on foot. She felt so completely unprepared to deal with this.
Unlocking the door to the rectory with a key she knew her father left hidden under the mat, Angelique stopped briefly to search for something... anything, to use for protection. She took a rather large knife from the kitchen and, wrapping just the blade in a kitchen towel to create a makeshift sheath, she slid the knife into her belt at her back, hidden under her jacket. She knew if Danny had a gun, she most likely would never get close enough to use it, but it never hurt to be prepared.
Angelique was grateful that her Father and Agnes were at the hospital. God only knows what Danny would have done if he found them here.
Summoning every ounce of courage she had left, she traveled through the backdoor to the woods and the glade where Danny had said to meet her. Thinking several times on that fateful day. Angelique fought against the fear that those images evoked.
Then she thought of Rebecca, the horror she saw in the young girl's eyes the day she had ended up at her shop. She swore to Rebecca she'd be safe and Angelique was going to keep that promise no matter the cost.
Stopping only a moment, Angelique took in her surroundings. She prayed to God Michael got her message in time. He may be her only hope. She turned north, toward the glade.
As Angelique neared the clearing, she took care of where she stepped, trying very hard not to make a sound. The closer she got, the more her fears threatened to overtake her. However, Angelique knew she must remain calm if she was to get Rebecca and herself out of this alive.
The glade was now in view, but she saw no sign of Danny or Rebecca. What if it was all a wild goose chase? What if Danny had some other purpose to draw her away from her apartment or the shelter? She believed him capable of anything at this moment.
Angelique stepped into the glade and out into the open. Suddenly, she heard a crack of a branch somewhere to her left and she turned toward the noise. Distracted, someone had grabbed her arm and twisted it up behind her from the right. She didn't even see it coming.
Wincing from the pain being caused, she tried to turn to see who had her, but they remained directly behind her and out of view.
"Where's Danny?" she said, steeling herself against the pain, but no answer came from her captor.
What if this was all a setup? What if Danny had just wanted to lure her out here to kill her?
With that in mind, she instinctively fell back on her martial arts training, wrapping her left leg around her captors and with a sweeping motion, pulled his leg from under him. She threw her entire body weight backward to bring them both crashing to the ground. Her assailant released her when he felt himself falling. With the amount of momentum, neither of them could stop what Angelique set in motion.
