New Earth: Batwoman

Chapter 38

The next day, while 'Dr. Butler' kept everyone out of his office, Alice picked up the phone and dialed a number she knew by heart, but had never had any reason to use until now.

"Who is this and how did you get this number?" Frank Bertinelli asked when he picked up.

"The one who wants you to join me in Wonderland." Alice said.

"Alice, well, I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd be allowed a phone while locked up in Arkham." Frank said.

"Well, you know how persuasive I can be." Alice said.

"What do you want Alice?" Frank asked.

"I need your assistance with something." Alice said.

"Forget it. I finally got the Huntress off my trail and I have no intention of doing anything to put her back on it. Still don't know why she's taken such an interest in me." Frank said.

"What if I told you I could not only answer that question, but if you help me, I can give you something that'll allow you to finally end her." Alice said.

"Keep talking." Frank said.

"First, I want to know that you'll do what I ask." Alice said.

"Not until I know what you're offering." Frank said.

"Fine, I'll tell you why the Huntress is after you. Then if you agree to cooperate with me, I'll give you what I promised." Alice said.

"I'm listening." Frank said.

"The Huntress's real name is Helena Wayne." Alice said.

"Okay, but I still don't understand why that brat is after me?" Frank asked.

"Because Wayne is only her adopted her. Her birth name is Helena Bertinelli." Alice said.

"Of course. So, my dear daughter is looking to even the score." Frank said.

"So, now are you interested in what I have to say?" Alice asked.

"Absolutely. What do you need?" Frank asked.

"I don't need you to get me out of here. At least not yet. My plans will work better if for now, the world thinks I'm securely locked up. What I do need is for you to get one of your guys to retrieve something for me." Alice said.

"Okay, and what is it?" Frank asked.

"A book. I'll tell you what's in it once I have it. I need to be sure you won't double cross me." Alice said cautiously.

"Smart. But still, I'm gonna need something to go on to know why I should care about some book?" Frank asked.

"It was written by Lucius Fox and we both know the kind of info he wrote about." Alice said.

"Okay then, I'm sold." Frank said, knowing enough about Lucius Fox to know that whatever was in the journal would be very useful not only to him, but to his organization, since it would allow him to not only retake his old turf in Gotham, which he'd been forced to abandon once the Huntress had started her crusade against him, but also take over other cities.

"Good. I'll provide instructions on how to get the book shortly. However, I would not recommend going yourself." Alice said.

"And I will take that into consideration." Frank said as he hung up.

"So, how much do you want to bet that he's going to ignore you?" Mouse asked as he joined her in the office.

"I'm counting on it. The moment my dear cousin gets word that her dad is in town, she'll become obsessed with putting him away and then Kate will help her, allowing us to have someone else get the book." Alice said.

"So that's why you didn't tell him what was in the book." Mouse said.

"He's nothing more than just a distraction. While Kate and her team focus on him, we'll make our play for the key to killing them all." Alice said and Mouse smiled.

"And what about Tommy Elliot?" Mouse asked.

"Good thing about you being in charge of the place he's locked up in is that you can make his death look like a suicide. He'll only stay alive until we've gotten everything we need from him. After that, it goes back to just being us." Alice said and Mouse smiled.

"If I didn't know better, I'd be worried about you wanting to kill me too." Mouse said.

"Don't be ridiculous, I would never kill you my little mouse. The others are just pawns to be knocked off the chess board when it's convenient, but you, you are the king and I am your queen." Alice said.

"Yes you are. However, you're not the only one with a troublesome family member we have yet to track down." Mouse said.

"Kate and her friends are a bigger concern at the moment. Once she's no longer a problem, I promise we will find your father and if he's still alive, well, we'll fix that." Alice said.

"Just making sure you haven't forgotten." Mouse said.

"I'll never forget the painful death I have planned for him, once he is in my clutches. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to get my revenge for both myself and my mother. Which reminds me, see if you can get Kate to pay me a visit, she's going to help us with that." Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Mouse asked.

"Batwoman is going to find Cartwright and then I'm sure she'll be more than willing to send him to join us here in Arkham, where we will take our slow, grim vengeance upon him." Alice said and Mouse grinned.

"You truly are brilliant." Mouse said, since while his sister had always been clever, he was now marvelling at the tactical brilliance she was showing.

"Well, prison has given me a lot of time to think of ways to up my game to make sure that once we get out of here, we never have to come back." Alice said and her brother grinned as he picked up the phone to begin making arrangements.