Righteous Obsession (30 page)

Alethea got out of the shower and began to smooth baby
oil on her damp skin.  While she dried, she took off her shower cap and began
to brush her hair.  “Colin?”  She called. Colin?”  She walked into the bedroom
and found it empty.  She wondered if he’d gone down to sit with Peter and
Amanda then rejected that idea – he would have told her he was going.  She sat
down on the bed, feeling puzzled and uneasy.  Her eyes suddenly fell on the
notepad next to the phone and she noticed there were marks on it like somebody
had pressed heavily on it as they wrote.  She dug a pencil out of her purse,
shaded over the marks and an address in Colin’s handwriting appeared.  She
recognized it immediately as being in the waterfront district.  “Oh My God!” 
Alethea dropped the notepad.  Colin must have somehow discovered where Liam was
and gone after him, putting himself in deadly danger too!  She quickly dressed,
tore the sheet with the address on it off the notepad and then ran down the
hall to McGregor’s room and pounded on the door.  McGregor answered and she
spilled out her story then said, “We’ve got to go after him!”

He nodded then took out his gun and a clip from the
night stand drawer.  “You’re going to have to help me with this.”

She nodded.  “Tell me what to do.”

“Slide the clip in there, like that.  Now give it a
hard whack and it’ll slide right in.  Good!”

Alethea gave him back his gun.  “Do you think we’ll
need that?”

“I don’t know, but I’d rather have it with me.  Let’s
go!”

“We’d better tell Steve what’s happened.”  They
stopped at Steve’s room but he wasn’t there so they left him a note, giving him
all the pertinent information and telling him to call the police.  Alethea left
it stuck in his door.  Outside, McGregor looked around for a cab to hail
assuming Colin had taken the car.  “Where are we going?”

“This address is in the waterfront.  The city hasn’t
completely redone all of it and there’s still areas where there’s a lot of old,
abandoned warehouse.”

McGregor finally saw a cab and waved frantically to
hail it.

Colin held the door open while he did a quick scan of
the inside of the warehouse.  Its lighting was dim and it was dusty and dirty. 
Old and worn-looking cartons were stacked so high he was unable to see over
them.  He came in cautiously after jamming the door open so he could get Liam
and get out fast.  His gaze swept the rafters, but many of them were in shadows
and he was unable to tell for sure if anybody was hiding up there.  He moved
quickly and quietly, using the cartons for cover while working his way towards
the back of the warehouse.  When he reached a spot where he could see the back
wall, he peeked out into the open.  What he saw sent a chill down his spine. 
Liam lay sprawled on his face, unmoving, with his hand and feet bound.

“Jesus Christ!”  Colin muttered, throwing caution to
the wind, rushing out and over to Liam.  He knelt beside him and saw, to his
relief that he was breathing.  He gently turned him over and saw the right side
of his face appeared swollen, marred by an ugly purplish-red bruise, running
from his temple to his cheekbone.  “Liam?”  Colin called softly.

Liam moaned and opened one eye.  The other appeared
swollen shut.  It widened at the sight of his brother bending over him.

Colin put his finger to his lips indicating to him that
he should remain quiet.  Liam tried to sit up, but it was obvious he was too
dizzy to do it without help.  “Here, lean against me,” Colin whispered.  Liam
did as he instructed and he quickly got Liam’s wrists untied.

“Colin, you have to go!”

“Not without you!”

“You have to!”  Liam insisted urgently.  “He only
kidnapped me to get you here so he could kill you!”

“He won’t get me without a fight!”  Colin muttered as
he untied the ropes on Liam’s feet.  “Can you stand up?”

Liam shook his head.  “I feel awfully dizzy.”

“Put your arms around me,” Colin said.  Liam did so
and Colin got him to his feet.  “It’s pretty far to the front door, but I’ll
help you.  My car’s a few more feet after that.”  There was a sudden loud bang
and he knew that the door had slammed shut, either by itself or with help. 
They started off in the direction of the front entrance, Liam leaning heavily
on Colin, when they heard a menacing laugh that chilled them.  They looked up
to see Liam’s kidnapper blocking their path.

“You didn’t really think I was going to let you just
walk out of here, did you?”  Father Michaels sneered.  He was in dark clothing
and stood blocking their only path to freedom.  Before Colin had time to react,
he grabbed Liam away from him.  Father Michaels put his arm around Liam and
kept him in front of him.  In his other hand he held a lethal – looking knife
poised at Liam’s throat.

“You’re the person who kept leaving those threatening
messages on my voicemail!”  Colin accused him.

“Yes.  I wanted you to worry and suffer before I
executed you!”

“Let Liam go then!  This is just between you and me!”

“You must be joking, Colin!”  Father Michaels gave
another menacing laugh.  “I intend to execute him while you watch!  I’ve
already taken care of your whore in Minneapolis!  True, she’s didn’t die, but
she’ll be a vegetable for the rest of her worthless life and it’s a just
punishment for fornicating with you!  When I’m through executing you two, I’ll
pay a visit to that blond whore of yours!”

“You leave her alone!”  Colin growled.  He had to stop
himself from lunging at him and throttling him.

“I can’t do that, Colin,” he chided.  “Because
everything you touch becomes fouled and sinful and has to be destroyed!  God
has chosen me to be his avenging hand!”  Father Michaels proclaimed proudly.

Suddenly, over Father Michaels shoulder, Colin saw the
door opening then saw McGregor.  He watched, horrified, as Alethea followed him
inside.  Moving quickly and quietly, they took cover behind the piled cartons. 
He quickly refocused his attention on the threat in front of him, hoping he
hadn’t noticed his momentary lapse of attention.  “What are you going to do
after you kill me?  Are you going to kill my parents, too?”

Colin felt surprised to see what looked to him like
doubt slide across his assailant’s face as if he were momentarily engaged in
some sort of inner conflict. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared and he
squared his shoulders.  “I’ll do whatever God commands me to do.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Colin caught some
movement off to his left and knew it was Alethea and McGregor.

“Shoot him, Buck!”  Alethea hissed.  “You’ve got a
clear shot!”

McGregor shook his head.  “I can’t as long as he has
Liam in front of him.  The risks are too high that Liam could be killed or
injured.”

“We’ve got to do something!  He’s going to kill them!”

“Colin knows we’re here and I know he’s going to do
his damnedest to get that creep out from behind Liam.  We just have to wait for
him to make his move.”

“Are you going to kill all my fans too?  That’s a big
job – think you and God can handle it?”  Colin sneered.  “You know what I think? 
I think you’re a fucking pussy!  If God wants you to kill me; why are you
hiding behind a scared kid?  You’re not only a phony, but a gutless phony!”

With a roar, Father Michaels shoved Liam aside and
rushed Colin.  Liam crashed against a metal beam and slid to the floor, dazed. 
In that split second before McGregor had a chance to react; Father Michaels
plunged his knife into Colin’s right side just above his waistline.

Agonizing pain shot through Colin’s body.  He looked
into Father Michaels face and saw his ecstatic expression before he felt the
knife being wrenched out of him again.  He stumbled back a few steps, a look of
disbelief, on his face, then sank to his knees and collapsed on the floor.

“No!”  Alethea screamed as she burst out of her hiding
place before McGregor had a chance to stop her.  She threw herself across Colin
in an attempt to protect him from further injury.  With what little strength
Colin still had he tried to push her away from him.

Father Michaels grabbed Alethea by her hair and forced
her to her feet.  She screamed in pain then in terror as he placed his knife,
dripping with Colin’s blood, against her throat.  “It looks like your whore
wants to die with you, Colin.  How loyal she is!”  He sneered.  “You’re going
to burn in hell for all eternity and your whores will burn right beside you! 
I’ll see to that!”

Caught up in his bragging, Father Michaels loosened
his hold on Alethea.  Feeling this, she drove her elbow into his rib cage hard
and rolled away from him just as a loud report reverberated through the
warehouse.  Father Michaels screamed, dropped his knife and grabbed his arm. 
Blood leaked through his fingers and dripped on the floor.  He staggered a
moment and then took off in a stumbling run.  McGregor ran after him.

Sobbing, Alethea crawled back over to Colin and threw
herself across him.  She was in shock and didn’t know whether he was dead or
alive.

Liam groaned and tried to sit up, but felt so
nauseated he gave it up the idea.  He heard Alethea sobbing and with much effort,
dragged himself to where she lay prostrate over Colin’s body.  He touched her
arm and whispered, “Alethea?”

Suddenly McGregor ran back in angrily yelling,
“Fucking hell!  The cocksucker had his car right outside and got away!”

“McGregor, is Colin alive?”  Liam called weakly.

McGregor knelt beside him and felt for the pulse in
his neck.  “He’s still got a pulse, but it’s weak.”  He placed his hand on
Colin abdomen and grimaced.  “I think he’s hemorrhaging inside and he’s not
going to last long unless we can get him to a hospital immediately.”

“Leave us and take him.  He said his car was outside
somewhere.”  Liam fell back wracked with nausea and despair.

Suddenly they both heard the sirens, distant at first,
but getting louder as they came closer until they finally stopped.  They could
see light flashing, hear doors slamming and several different voices, yelling
and exclaiming loudly.  The door burst open.  Two police officers, their guns
drawn, came through first.

“Back here!”  McGregor yelled.  “We need help!”

“That’s McGregor, Colin’s bodyguard!”  Steve shouted,
motioning them towards the back.

The police officers lowered their guns and moved aside
for the paramedics and their equipment.  Two of them went immediately to Colin
and the third one knelt beside Liam.  Alethea still lay protectively across her
husband, refusing to allow anyone to touch him.

Steve knelt beside her.  “Alethea, these people are
here to help Colin.  You have to get out of the way so they can do whatever
they need to do.”  Together he and McGregor got Alethea to her feet and away
from Colin.  Her blood-stained T-shirt stood out noticeably even in the dim
light.

More police arrived.  McGregor talked to a person who
identified herself as Marie Wickersham; she was the homicide detective in
charge.  He pointed to where the knife used to stab Colin lay and a police
officer retrieved it and placed it in an evidence bag.  He told her he’d
wounded Colin’s assailant and showed her the trail of blood splotches that led
outside.

“The fact that he’s wounded and has lost some blood
may work to our advantage because he’s going to have to get his wound treated
immediately or risk possible complications,” she remarked.

The paramedics had stabilized Colin enough to
transport him to the hospital.  Steve went over and knelt beside the paramedic
who was treating Liam.  “How is he doing?”

He was gently probing the bruise on Liam’s face.  He
took out a penlight and said, “Okay, Liam, follow this light with your eyes for
me.”  Liam did as he requested even though it made him feel dizzy and
subsequently nauseous.  The paramedic put his penlight away and asked, “Do you
hurt anywhere else?”

“No, just my head mostly.”

“It looks like he might have a concussion so we’re
going to take him in for observation.”  He turned back to Liam.  “Is that okay
with you, Liam?”

“I guess so,” Liam replied.  “What about Colin?”

“They’ve got him stabilized enough to transport him,
but past that I don’t know,” Steve replied.

“Do you think you can walk out to the ambulance,
Liam?”  The paramedic asked. “Otherwise we can bring a stretcher in for you.”

“I think I can make it if somebody helps me.”

The other two paramedics, assisted by a police
officer, were moving Colin’s stretcher.  Alethea walked beside it, holding
tightly to Colin’s hand.  Steve and the third paramedic got Liam on his feet
and supported him.  “Steve, who’s going to tell mom and dad what’s happened?” 
Liam asked as they helped him into the ambulance.

“I’m going right back and tell them what’s happened
and we’ll go straight to the hospital so don’t worry about it, Liam,” Steve
assured him.

Liam nodded as they slammed the back door then the
ambulance took off with it sirens wailing loudly.  When the ambulance arrived
at the hospital they rushed Colin into one trauma room and Liam into another. 
Alethea had to wait outside.  She watched, unable to look elsewhere, as nurses
and doctors rushed in and out of the room where Colin was.  After several
minutes a nurse came out carrying a manila envelope.  She came over to Alethea. 
“Mrs. Matthews?”

“Yes,” Alethea asked, paling noticeably.

“These are your husband’s personal effects.  Will you
please verify that everything’s here and sign this receipt for me?”

Alethea poked around in the contents that included
Colin’s wallet, cell phone, his watch, earring, keys and various change. 
“Where’s Colin’s wedding ring?  I don’t see it in here.”

“He still has it on.  He regained consciousness for a
moment and said he wanted to keep it on.”

Alethea signed the receipt and gave it back and the
nurse gave her several other sheets of paper.  “Medical history and insurance
information,” she explained with a sympathetic smile. Alethea looked at them
blankly, realizing she had no idea about either of them.  Colin had never been
sick a day since she’d known him.  She looked up at the nurse and nodded
towards the trauma room.  “What are they doing in there?”

“Our chief cardiovascular surgeon, Doctor Trumbull, is
in with your husband right now.  He’s in the best hands possible.  Doctor
Trumbull will be out shortly to talk with you.  Can I get you a cup of coffee
or do anything else for you?”

“Thank you, but I’m all right.”

About ten minutes later a tall, distinguished looking
black man emerged from the trauma room, carrying a thick book under one arm, and
came over to Alethea.  “Mrs. Matthews?”

“Yes,” Alethea replied with a nod.

“I’m Doctor Trumbull, Chief of Cardiovascular
Surgery.”  He smiled at her confused look.  “In laymen’s terms it means I
operate on hearts and arteries.”

“How’s Colin?”

“Why don’t we sit over here?”  He suggested, taking
her arm and guiding her to an empty section of the waiting room.  They seated
themselves and he said, “Your husband has been seriously injured.”  He opened
the book, an anatomy book, to a colored diagram.  “If you’ll bear with me for a
moment I’ll use this to explain what happened to your husband when he was
stabbed.”