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The Tessarae Inn |
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The Son Also Rises
PART III Ties of Blood This is a pain I mostly hide, but ties of blood, or seed endure, and even now I feel inside the hunger for his outstretched hand, a man’s embrace to take me in, the need for just a word of praise. --Jimmy Carter CHAPTER 27 He looked up at him with gray eyes so steady and resigned that he literally felt his heart break. He anchored his body as he stretched flat against the slick sheet rock and then reached into space. He stretched as far as he could just as his small fingers began to slide and small bits of gravel and debris careened off into the abyss. He gripped his hand firmly onto his right arm then gripped his other arm as well and then used all of his upper body strength to pull him upward and back over the edge. He stood up slowly then lifted him into his arms. Sean wrapped his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist then held on tightly. His small body felt cold and damp and he was trembling. Todd kissed him on the forehead and tried not to let Sean see how scared he had been. Todd smoothed Sean’s hair and whispered, “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You were very brave, Sean, but I’m here now and I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” Sean squeezed him a little tighter. Todd glanced down and saw where his shirt had risen up dark, ugly purple bruises. He touched one of the bruise and Sean winced. “Are you all right, Sean?” “Yes, Sir. I’m okay.” “What happened to you? Who hit you?” “It doesn’t hurt a lot. Not really.” Todd studied him for a second then reminded himself that Katherine was Sean’s mother. Even in the middle of this horror Sean felt a need to protect her. He understood but Katherine would have to pay for this along with everything else. “We have to go get your mother. We have to go get Blair. Do you think you can come with me?” Sean nodded and Todd put him down gently then brushed his hand across his hair. Life gave you gifts. What a strange time to be reminded of that. He held onto Sean’s hand but kept him behind him. They moved silently around the rocks. Ethan should be there by now but he knew better than to count on anything. He once put his life in Ethan’s hands and now he was doing it again. Blair was his life. If he didn’t know it before he knew it for a fact when he heard her scream and knew she was alive. At the time, a wall of emotion thundered into his consciousness and almost drowned him. It took everything of worth in his soul to keep him from abandoning the rocks and running to Blair. Sean had needed him. Ethan was closing in on Katherine and Todd made the choice to trust that Ethan would get there in time. Now he had to face up to the consequences of that choice.
=============== Blair launched herself full force into Katherine. If she was going to die, she’d go down fighting and take this bitch with her if possible. Katherine shoved her backwards but Blair held on and punched her. The gun fell out of Katherine’s hand and she wrapped her hands around Blair’s neck and began to squeeze. “It is fitting that I kill you with my bare hands.” Blair clawed at Katherine and pushed her hand flat against her nose and pressed upward and as hard as she could as she tore at the skin of Katherine’s face with the nails of her other hand. Katherine relaxed her grip and Blair used all of her strength to pull herself out of Katherine’s grasp. She fell backwards then scooted further away from the cliff. Her leg was hurting and shafts of pain shot up from her ankle but she was not going to make it easy for Katherine. “Why are you such a bitch? Why did you fight so hard? What could he have meant to you?” “You were his mother for God’s sake,” screamed Blair. “You must have felt something for him.” “Carrying him felt like carrying some alien that was feeding on me from the inside. I should have killed him before he was born. It would have saved us all a lot of trouble.” Blair gasped then felt around her frantically for a rock, a stick, anything she could use as a weapon. This woman was truly crazy and she was convinced now that Katherine would have killed Sean as well. For a moment she froze as the memory of his small cry for help filled her consciousness. She hadn’t been able to save him. How was she supposed to live with that? She felt the ground vibrate as Katherine rushed close to her. She braced herself for the next round as she continued to look and feel for anything that might work. Finally, she grabbed a handful of grass and just as Katherine loomed over her she threw it in her face. Katherine brushed the bits of grass off her face then yanked Blair to her feet and began to drag her close to the cliff. “You are the stupidest bitch I have ever met. I want you to die now. Consider it my gift to the world.” Blair lock herself in place but Katherine was too strong, so she kicked and struggled as Katherine dragged her along. Finally, Katherine punched her in the face and for a moment everything turned shades of gray then black then gray again. She felt her body moving through space and without being able to see she knew she was close to the edge. She could feel the thinness of the air and smell the sharpness of the rocks. In a moment she would be flying. Tears popped into her eyes. Starr and Jack would be okay but they would probably never know how much she had loved them. She had done the best she could to live for them. Now they would have to go on without her. And Todd would, too. Todd. “Let her go, Katherine. There is nothing to be gained by this.” Katherine stopped moving and turned around slowly dragging Blair in front of her. “How do you know? What do you know about anything?” “Not much it seems. Not much at all.” “You were always so weak and dumb. It all could have been yours by right but you let Sean-Ryan take it. He’s ten times the man you’ll ever be but you should’ve fought for your birthright.” “If it were due either of us, it was due you. You and I both know that. He could not bring himself to see that. But none of this is about her, Katherine. None of it. Let her go.” “Manning needs to pay for crossing me.” “Then hurt him but what has she ever done to you? All she’s ever done was give Peter Sean more than either of us was even capable of giving him. Give Peter Sean a chance, Katherine. We know what it’s like to grow up without any love. He has a chance.” Blair felt Katherine’s grip relax slightly. “Why should he have a chance, Ethan? Why him?” “Because he’s the way we live on. For good or ill he is our legacy. Let him be more than either of us had a chance to be.” “It’s too late, Ethan. He’s gone and she needs to follow him over the cliffs.” Blair could see Ethan’s face crumble but he quickly erased the pain and the anger. He walked closer to Katherine. “Why punish her for our sins? You are the strongest, bravest woman I have ever known, Katherine. Why give into weakness now? This is not about her. Leave her out of it. Be strong enough to fight your own battles against the real foe.” “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Yes, I do. You know I do.” Katherine suddenly released her grip and Blair felt herself being pushed forward. Ethan caught her before she fell and lifted her up and carried her away from the cliff. He placed her gently against a large boulder. “It’s going to be all right,” he said softly. He stood up and faced Katherine, who had walked closer to them with her gun once again aimed at Blair. Ethan stretched his arms out and let his gun dangle from his fingers. “I’ll handle everything, Katherine. I’ve got the money for you. I’ll negotiate with Cameron. I’ll put everything right again. I’ll smooth things over with Manning. It’s just us now. Family. Let me be your brother for once.” Katherine lowered the gun and Ethan walked closer to her. “It’s going to be all right, Katherine. I know you’ve felt alone all this time. I’m here now. Never really understood how much you needed me.” Katherine dropped her chin then slowly nodded her head. POP. CRACK. CAP. Ethan grabbed his chest and then slumped to his knees and fell forward. Blood oozed out onto the ground. Blair scrambled toward him. She kept calling his name but he didn’t move or answer. POP. CRACK. CAP. Blair whipped her head around and saw Katherine stumbled backwards and grabbed her right hand with her left as her gun tumbled to the ground skid and then careened off the cliff. Blair looked up and the sight of John Padgett moving toward her made her heart leap. Help had arrived. Everything was finally going to be all right. She pressed her hand against Ethan’s chest and tried to stop the bleeding. “He needs help,” she said looking up at Padgett. “Please call for an ambulance.” “I am sorry that I’m late, Mrs. Manning, but Mrs. Mahoney has made tracking her a wee bit difficult. I am also sorry that you are here and in this state. I guess it is too much to expect you to appreciate my dilemma.” Dilemma? He turned toward Katherine. “Mrs. Mahoney, Colin Cameron sends his regards.” What? What did he say? Blair focused on Padgett. “I don’t understand, Mr. Padgett. What’s going on here? Ethan needs medical help. Katherine shot him.” Katherine howled. “Help him? He’s the one who shot him. He’s a freaking hired killer.” Lying bitch. Even now Katherine couldn’t face the truth. “No, he’s not. He’s the man who heads up the security company Todd hired. He’s here to protect…” Slowly an ugly truth surfaced in Blair’s mind. She turned and stared at Padgett then looked over at Katherine who was smirking and rubbing her right hand. “Buy a clue? He’s scum of the earth,” said Katherine. “Lower than filth, just like his boss.” “My boss as you so elegantly phrased it did not steal three million dollars from his benefactor then run away like a rat with his tail between his legs. That was you, Mrs. Mahoney.” Katherine tightened her lips then rubbed her right hand again. “I thought you were a professional? The hit has been called off. Amends will be made.” “Maybe they left the message on my answering machine but I haven’t had a chance to listen to the tape.” Katherine narrowed her eyes and nodded her head. “Just like I thought. This is personal. I hurt your big ole manly pride because you couldn’t find me and complete the contract. Got beat by a little girl. Need to be man enough to face up to that fact.” “Shut up. This has been just one incident in an otherwise exemplary career. I will correct this situation and things will go on as before.” “You’ll have a witness.” “No. I am afraid I will not.” He turned and looked at Blair. “It grieves me to say that I must end your misery, Mrs. Manning. You do understand that my professional reputation is on the line. I do promise to kill her first, however, so you will have the last pleasure of seeing your nemesis come to an ignoble end. And I promise you a painless death. Just one of the advantages of my being a professional.” Blair felt the full weight of his utter betrayal sink in. This man who was supposedly protecting her and her children was not only a hired killer, he had also let Katherine get to her and Sean to flush Katherine out into the open for his own personal vendetta. If she didn’t believe it before she now knew that all hope was lost. The irony was that neither she nor Katherine would ever get off this mountain alive.
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