She of the Sea

35 of 53 - An Unwelcome Homecoming

Webb drove home with mixed feelings. He was happy for Cassandra having finally gone through metamorphosis and the role he had played in looking after her. He was also satisfied to hand her off to Rafe, sure the young man would lay down his life to keep her safe. He promised to check in with the pair frequently, especially if he suspected Tipstaff Security of closing in on Cassandra's location. She would continue to be vulnerable for the rest of her life.

His mixed feelings resulted from a dread anticipation of what awaited him when he got home. Bonnie hadn't returned any of his phone messages or texts. He worried he might find an empty house or at the least the locks having been changed.

What he didn't expect was to see two strange vehicles in his driveway, a black Jeep and a medium-sized, non-descript silver sedan. The Hertz decal in the window of the sedan revealed it was a rental.

Webb walked into his house and found his wife, looking pale, seated on the sofa. "What's going on, Bonnie? Whose vehicles are those?"

"You're finally home." His old crewmate, Claudia Mayhew, appeared dressed in an apron and holding a plate of raw hamburgers, her dreadlocks pulled up beneath a chef's hat. "And you're just in time for lunch."

Webb's adrenaline kicked in. Claudia and whoever was with her had obviously been holding Bonnie prisoner. It explained why she didn't respond to his messages. "Where is my son?"

"Out back playing catch with Danno. Why don't you go say hi?"

In a soft, trembling voice, Bonnie asked, "Bruce, what have you done?"

Webb ignored her, feeling it more urgent to check on Brandon. He stepped through the house and out the back door into the backyard.

"Hi, Dad," Brandon said. "Mister Danno played baseball in college and has been coaching me."

His son seemed none the wiser as to what was happening.

Danno glanced his way before tossing a baseball to Brandon. "Your son is right. I'm good at playing hardball."

"Brandon, go inside so I can speak with this man."

"But, Dad, Miss Claudia said we could play until she called us in to eat."

It stung Webb how his son considered Claudia as having more authority than his own father, but he couldn't blame the boy. He hadn't been much of a father lately.

"It's okay, Brandon," Danno said. "Give your arm a rest. We can toss the ball again after we eat. Go inside."

Brandon pouted but disappeared into the house.

Webb approached and stood toe-to-toe with his former colleague. His temper had risen into the red zone. "How dare you and Claudia involve my family in this affair. I want the two of you gone, right now."

Danno remained calm and in control. "We'll gladly comply. I don't want to be hanging around here any longer than I must. I have things to do. All you need is to tell us where to find the girl."

"Not going to happen, and I'll go to war with you for threatening my wife and son."

"Claudia and I threatened no one. Although we had to tell Nico to stand down and stay away because he wants to kill you." He paused and wore a smirk. "Did you really slash all four of his tires?"

Webb ignored his question and pointed toward the front of the house and the driveway. "Get out. Now."

"Since you won't tell me where we can find the girl, answer me something else I'm curious about." He lowered his voice and leaned in. "Do you have something going on with her? It would be easy to take advantage of a seductive teen who grew up without a father figure. A man like you offering her protection and security in exchange for what?"

While he spoke Webb involuntarily balled his fists, but he knew Danno was baiting him into a reaction. He unclenched and took a breath. "Don't be ridiculous."

Danno raised both eyebrows. "Ridiculous? I think not. Bonnie tells me she's certain you've been cheating on her. If it weren't for sexual favors, why else would you have covered for the girl during the past five years?"

"We're done talking."

"Webb, you've been a soldier-of-fortune your entire adult life. I don't get it. When did you stop being a mercenary?"

"When I rejoined the human race. By the way, the girl has a name, she's Cassandra."

"Don't bother trying to humanize her for me, because we both know she isn't human."

"Maybe she and her kind are better than us."

"Now who's being ridiculous. History is rife with evidence to the contrary."

Webb pulled his cellphone and poised his finger over the screen ready to press the emergency button that would direct a call to the 9-1-1 center. "I told you, we're done talking."

Danno took a step back. "All right, we'll leave, but here's how it's going to be from now on. Doctor Armando's obsession with the girl has him teetering on the edge of insanity. If you thought he was bonkers before, you haven't seen anything yet."

"You should terminate your contract with him, or better yet, terminate him."

"We won't. The contract is too lucrative, and he always pays us promptly."

"Bully for you."

"Listen up, Webb. Armando suspects by now the girl has undergone metamorphosis and is crazed he couldn't experiment on her during the process. It'll be worse for her now. When he gets his hands on her, he plans to have her impregnated. He wants her umbilical cord blood, placenta, and stem cells. He wants her baby. After she gives birth he'll dispose of the girl and raise her child in what he calls a controlled environment."

"That's sick. I can't believe you'd go along with such an atrocity."

Danno ignored what he said and went on. "Armando doesn't care what it costs Verdanx Pharmaceuticals. He figures to make billions on whatever medical breakthroughs he achieves with new drugs he can synthesize from the healthy female's blood and organs and her baby."

Webb had a vision of Cassandra laid out on one of Armando's steel dissection tables, cut up just like her mother had been.

"The doctor knows you are the key to finding her. He's ordered us to maintain twenty-four-hour surveillance on you, visual and electronic, until you lead us to her. You will have no privacy. One of us will be on your ass for as long as it takes."

Webb maintained a stoic expression to hide his anxiety. He knew Danno wasn't lying to him. "Are you done?"

"I'm done. Save us all the trouble, Webb. Tell us where she is."

Question - Do you think Webb will eventually crack under the pressure to his family's privacy?