Beauty and the Beast (7 page)

him. It had already begun to be mended when he felt Little Jacob’s heartbeat as Catherine was bearing him. That was how he found her after Gabriel stole her child.” Diana shook her head slowly. “So, you are all just watching and waiting for his empathic link with her to be completely healed. I sure wouldn’t want to be in his way when that happens!”

Father quickly added, “That is why Pascal has established a new code on the pipes specifically for letting all of us know where Vincent is at all times. His sadness over Catherine and his preoccupation with Little Jacob have kept him distracted, so he hasn’t even noticed.” Diana finally asked, “Where is Catherine?”

Father answered, “Actually, she is being cared for by the very doctor who helped bring her into this world, and is now doing his best to keep her in it, Dr. Peter Wellington.”

Diana was surprised. “I’ve heard of him. Isn’t he a very well known gynecologist?” Father nodded, and Diana continued, “I’m amazed by the number of people in high places who are Helpers to your world.”

“We truly are blessed by association with some of your world’s finest people,” Father smiled.

“I feel like I already know Catherine, because I studied her life so intensely. It would make me really happy to actually see her alive. Would you take me there?” Diana pleaded.

Father assured her, “That is exactly what I intended to

do. I was hoping that was what you wanted.” He took Vincent’s wedding ring and the marriage certificate, and put them back in his dresser drawer.

As they left Father’s chamber together, Diana turned to him and said, “Before you take me to Catherine, let me take you to my loft. There is something there you need to see.”

As they walked down the passageway, they ran into Jamie. If she had been born with wings and pointed ears, one would expect to see her sprinkling fairy dust everywhere. Her petite stature and lovely delicate features, framed by long silky-brown hair, made her look pixie-like. However, contrary to her dainty appearance, nineteen-year-old Jamie was a fierce warrior in the protection of her community. A skilled archer, she was adept with both a traditional bow and arrows and crossbow weapons. When she wasn’t on sentry duty, she was often exploring the lower caves, where she could safely hone her targeting skills. As usual, she had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. She asked them, “Have you seen Mouse?”

Diana shook her head, and Father answered, “No, not for several hours now. I’m taking Diana back topside. If we run into him, we will tell him you are looking for him.” “Thanks, Father,” Jamie said as she hurried on in the other direction.

Father looked at Diana and chuckled. He offered her his arm. “Well, shall we continue?”

Diana took his proffered arm and smiled back, “Certainly!”

Chapter II

Lost and Found

When they arrived at Diana’s building by way of the manhole in the alley behind her building, which was the route Vincent had shown her, Diana guided Father into the back door of the ground floor. After they stepped out of the freight elevator into her loft, Diana seated Father on her sofa, and then she showed him Catherine’s rosebush in the large pot at the end of the sofa. “When I was in Catherine’s apartment, studying her things and profiling her, I found this rosebush on her balcony. It looked completely dead, but somehow, I could feel that it still had life in it. I brought it here and spent weeks trying to resurrect the poor thing.

All of the hard work finally paid off. I couldn’t believe it when it bloomed with both red and white roses! I found

out from my florist that this is a very rare graft. In the language of flowers the red rose symbolizes love, and the white rose symbolizes eternity, which is perfect symbolism for Vincent’s and Catherine’s relationship. I need to take this to Catherine since she is alive.”

Father smiled softly, “It is really interesting that you found her rosebush looking like it was deadjust like we found her. You were able to resurrect the rosebush. Let’s pray we have the same result with Catherine. You know, if you take this bush out of here now, and Vincent should come to visit you, he will surely wonder where it is.”

Diana widened her eyes in realization, “You’re right of course, Father! I hadn’t thought of that. It just seems wrong for me to have it when Catherine is still alive, but you’re right. It must wait until Vincent is reconnected to her and finds her. Father, I have an uneasy feeling that the danger to Cathy and Vincent is not yet over.”

Father frowned, “What makes you say that, Diana? Gabriel is dead.”

Diana paused for a moment and pursed her lips before answering. “I’m not really sure. There are just a lot of unanswered questions in my mind. I really want to get back into Gabriel’s mansion. I want to know why he was so obsessed with Vincent’s child. It seems to me that it was more than just an accident that he happened to kidnap the mother of Vincent’s baby. His obvious reason was that she had information about his organization in the small notebook she recovered and refused to turn over

to him, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. I need to find out what else was going on in his head, just to ease my mind if nothing else. Perhaps Gabriel was just a madman, but there truly is a fine line between madness and genius, and I don’t think Gabriel could have been as powerful as he was if he didn’t have some of both. It’s as if he knew about Vincent’s existence before he ever got his hands on Cathy.”

Father studied the worry on her face. “I really hope you are wrong, Diana, but it would be far better to know than to be caught unaware of the danger.”

Diana responded, “I hope I’m wrong, too, Father.”

After they left Diana’s loft and went back into the tunnels through her manhole, Father began the tale of what had occurred on the morning of October 14
^th
, after Vincent found Catherine poisoned with an overdose of morphine following the birth of Little Jacob on the night of the 13
^th
. He continued the story as they walked through passageways Diana had never seen before on their way to Dr. Peter Wellington’s home.

Three months earlier, on October 14
^th
....

When Tony Ramos ran into Father’s chamber

completely out of breath and very obviously distressed with a note in his hand, Father caught the thirteen-year-old in his arms and asked, “Tony, whatever is the matter?” It took Tony a few minutes to catch his breath before he could answer. “Father, it’s about Catherine! I was told by Dr. Marx to give this note only to you, and to be sure that you understood not to say anything to Vincent about what he’s asking you to bring to her building. I don’t know why. I guess it’s in the note. Everyone at Catherine’s building is saying that she’s dead. I’ve got to go back there!” With that, he ran out of Father’s chamber before Father could even express his shock over what Tony had said.

Father opened the note in his hand and tried to comprehend what he was reading. It didn’t make any sense. It read, “Vincent found Catherine and called me to come to her apartment and collect her body. Bring your medical bag with epinephrine and penicillin, and bring a thermal blanket. Don’t tell Vincent what you are bringing! Meet me at the coroner’s van in back of her building, and wear your doctor’s lab coat. David Marx.”

Only moments ago another child had brought a note from one of the sentries telling Father that Vincent had been seen in great distress on the Catwalk Bridge over the Whispering Gallery. That was where he had started to go before Tony ran in with this note from Dr. Marx. Father quickly collected the requested items and laid out street clothes and his lab coat with his name badge on it. Then

he hurried as fast as his damaged leg and cane would allow him to down the tunnels in search of his poor son, Vincent. He finally found him sitting at the table in his chamber alone. Vincent was obviously in shock. He told Father that he had found Catherine too late. He had carried her back to her apartment, had stayed with her body until the dawn threatened to expose him, and then he had returned to the tunnels.

It was with a very heavy heart that Father left Vincent alone with his grief to go answer Dr. Marx’s urgent summons. When he got back to his chamber, he quickly dressed, put on his lab coat, and grabbed the blanket and his medical bag with the requested medicines in it. He started to leave but then went quickly to his dresser, opened one of the drawers, took Catherine’s crystal wedding rings out, and put them into his pocket.

When Father finally arrived at the coroner’s van, he found one of their Helpers, a cabby named Chuck Johnson, in the driver’s seat. Chuck was stocky with a round very friendly face. Chuck could be quite formidable, though, with a no-nonsense attitude when it was necessary. He looked relieved when he saw Father and said, “I am so glad to see you, Father. I’m not sure what’s going on here. All I know is that I got a frantic call from Dr. Marx telling me that I needed to come here immediately to drive his coroner’s van, that I was to keep it running and not ask any questions. Here I am, and the motor is running. All hell is breaking loose in that

building! There are police, reporters, medical people, and tenants, all running around like chickens with their heads off!”

Father got into the passenger seat with his bag and the blanket on his lap. “I guess all we can do is wait until David can explain what he needs from us. His note said that Vincent had called him to collect Catherine’s body. Vincent told me himself that he found her last night, but that it had been too late. I’m a little confused by what David asked me to bring.”

Chuck stared at Father in shock with tears welling in his eyes. “Are you telling me that Cathy is dead?”

Just then the back door of the van swung open, and they heard David Marx’s voice in an urgent tone, “She is not! We just have to make sure that no one else knows she’s not, because the murdering animal that did this to her is still at large, and no one knows who it is. Chuck, come around here quickly, and help me get her into the van. You wouldn’t believe what I had to do to ditch those two assistants of mine! They mustn’t show up and find us still here.” Dr. David Marx was solidly built, with thinning hair, and an imposing bearing. He wasn’t accustomed to socializing with the living and was usually rather testy with them. Father’s people were easier for him to relate to, and his guard always came down when he was with them. Father hurried to the back of the van to help pull the gurney in. The body bag she was in was zipped closed, and he felt a pang of anxiety over what he would

see when they opened it. As soon as she was in, Dr. Marx turned to Chuck. “Make like a New York cabby, and get us out of here quick!” Then he climbed into the back of the van.

Chuck exclaimed, “Yes Sir!” and slammed the back door closed. He raced around to the front, jumped in, put the van in gear, and took off out of the alley. “Where are we headed?”

Dr. Marx answered as he was unzipping Catherine’s body bag, and covering her with the thermal blanket Father had brought. “I called Peter Wellington and told him to meet Father in the tunnels, at the back of the City Morgue refrigerated body unit that we always use. I told him that Catherine was in critical condition, and that he needed to bring an heated saline I.V. bag, with glucose and vitamins in it. We need to stop at the manhole cover in the alley two blocks from the hospital to send Father down to meet him. You know the one, don’t you, Chuck?”

Chuck answered, “Yes, I do. Usually, we are sending deceased members of Father’s world the other direction through the morgue body refrigerator from the tunnels, to be embalmed or cremated, before being buried in the deep catacombs. This is a first, to send a living person through the morgue to the tunnels to keep her safe. I sure hope we can pull this off without someone catching on.”

Father already had his stethoscope out of his bag, and was listening to Catherine’s chest. She had an heart beat, extremely slow, but steady, and he breathed a sigh of

relief. Her respiration was so slow as to be undetectable. “She really does appear dead. How on earth did you realize she was still alive, David?

Dr. Marx frowned. “Corpses don’t sweat! I saw the sweat at her hairline, and realized that in spite of all appearances to the contrary, she was still alive. Unfortunately, I had called in the troops when Vincent called me, because I had no reason to believe he could be mistaken about her condition. I told my assistants to bag her hands to collect evidence, and while they were busy doing that, I ran out to nab Tony, because I had seen him hanging around the hallway. I sent a note with him to you through Catherine’s tunnel access in the basement. That poor boy was devastated over the report that she was dead, and I didn’t have time to explain to him that she wasn’t. It probably wouldn’t have been wise to tell him anyway. He took off like a shot, and obviously you got the message. We’ve got to do what essentially amounts to a living autopsy on Catherine right now, as fast as possible, so I’ve got the evidence the DA needs to try and find the murderer who did this to her. Father, grab an evidence collection kit from the cabinet right behind you there.”

Father got up and went to the cabinet. When he opened it to get the kit, he found Tony crunched up on the bottom shelf with tears streaming down his face. “Is Cathy going to be all right?” He sobbed.

The boy was so stricken Father couldn’t bring himself to scold him for stowing away in the van. “We are going to

do everything we can to save her. For now, you just stay right where you are while we work on her, OK?” Tony nodded and stayed quiet after that.

Father found the kit and went back to Catherine with it. “What do you need for me to do, David?”

“Before we give her any shots to stabilize her, we need a blood sample, so I can determine what she was given to put her in this condition. I have a good idea what I’m going to find, but I need to be sure. Take the blood sample and bag it. Then, I need for you to swab under her fingernails for any evidence there, and bag the swabs while I do a thorough examination. We’ll give her the shots before we drop you off in the manhole.”