Count's Daughter

Capture and Rescue

Thank you bookfreak0815 for betaing  this chapter  

As I head towards the old waterfall, really known as Bluff Mountain, I smirk. Really and truly, they should read more books, especially when they're going to have to deal with me.

Although I guess it's pure luck that no one has read The Mad Wolf's Daughter, or they'd know that Drest does the exact opposite, going down to the water's edge to try to rescue her family, and when that fails she goes to the castle to rescue them. So, I need to go to the shortest mountain with water at its base. Mount Bluff.

LB POV

After I talk to Shiva I get this strange feeling. Like what I got when I first met Marine. I mentally tell myself to check on her later, after I order a platoon to Mount Tulip.

"Hitch, the kid figured it out. We need to go to Mount Tulip, that's where Count's hiding." I order as soon as I walk through the door to his office.

"LB, no offense but are you crazy? Mount Tulip, was a dormant volcano that exploded years ago. It's reduced to shards of rock now." I frown at this news.

"Why would she lie?" I ask.

"She might be meaning to send us a message in the name. Tulip Jones was the head of MI6 for half of the Alex Rider books and that can't be a coincidence especially with the kid and the way she likes to read. Though I can't see how it has anything to go in this area, so maybe it's a place that has tulips." That's devious, and sounds reasonable. Yet also wrong somehow.

"No both of those are to not her. So far everything has been personal to her. Her friend that died. What was her name?" I ask, having an idea coming to me.

"It was Tulip. Oh, do you think that she meant at her friend's grave site or house?" Hitch asks

"No, I think that she meant the waterfall those two discovered while hiking one day. It's rumored that they had a secret hide out in that cave. Go there instead, and hurry."

The uneasy feeling grows on me. Could the kid be in trouble? No, I'm just getting paranoid. She's in her room out of trouble. Best go to my office and get my mind off of this weird feeling by doing some paperwork.

Halfway through the day of catching up on paperwork, I get a call. Hitch was calling in, why is he doing this. He usually just waits for debriefing and doesn't bother with anything in the field. "LB, I didn't find Count, but I found something better. I found the Crew kid, Minny. I'm having Blacker bring her back to her parents as we speak."

I smiled reassured, so the kid was talking about this. This was his headquarters, and he got spooked so he left the Crew kid. She referred to it as Mount Tulip, probably not thinking and feeling emotional and spooked. Who can blame her? That note was creepy even for me.

No need to tell her anything, just let her get the emationalness out of her system, then I'll tell her. Hopefully she'll be better by this evening when I go to check on her. LB, you need to return to the paperwork and stop thinking about some kid, a voice in my mind tells me.

When I finally look up it's 11 PM. I better go home, tomorrow won't come any sooner. I need to check on the kid first, see how she's doing and tell her the good news.

I look at the monitor, out of habit, and see she's not in the room. What the... how can she not be in the room, it's dead silent so I'd hear her walking if she was out, and there are no blind spots in the room. I've got to check this out now.

I run through the corridors, quickly coming to her room and throwing open the door. In this situation, best seek forgiveness than ask permission. I frantically glance around the room, and no Shiva. What is going on?