Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop - Part 7

"You come lookin' for me, and I'll find you."


Jennifer couldn't get that parting phrase out of her mind. Did he expect her to ask around at the docks in various port cities? She may seem a little foolhardy in this venture to find Audrey or find what happened to her but she certainly wasn't the type of woman who wandered around at the docks alone. She wasn't stupid. Of course, she hadn't been the type of woman to kiss strangers and practically hop into bed with them either. Particularly when one of the things she knew about that stranger was that he was a criminal! Although he did seem like a nice criminal. He'd actually been quite gentlemanly with her, plus or minus a few roguish smiles and remarks and....

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jennifer! Stop it!" She was muttering to herself as she eased up the outer staircase of the Grey Gull to Audrey's apartment. She'd spent the last couple of hours schmoozing downstairs in the bar and had carefully maneuvered herself outside and up the stairs. She paused briefly at the top of the stairs after stepping to the corner of the apartment to listen and collect her courage. She could hear the typical noises of indistinct conversation and music from down below and the apartment itself was silent. She that Duke's skiff was gone from the dock and wondered how he had got it back. Maybe he had got a ride from the docks from some woman who did wander around there. She resented the hell out of the jealousy that flared with the idea and the implications.

With a deep breath she tiptoed to the door and started picking the lock. It went a little easier this time and when she stepped into Audrey's apartment the first thing she noticed was that the stuffiness of a place that should have been closed up for several weeks was mild if not absent. She pulled a tiny penlight from her pocket and used it to guide her around the conversational set near the door. She was closing in on a small desk when she heard a loud thump on the other side of the door. When she whirled around she could see only an outline of what had to be the biggest man she'd ever seen in her life. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound was choked off when the electrodes from a taser hit her in the chest.

When Jennifer woke up, she immediately felt the wrongness and danger of the situation. Her first fear came from being unable to open her eyes. She became aware of a blindfold or scarf around her eyes, but her eyelids were actually taped shut some how. The feeling of being unable to open her eyes, even from under the blindfold filled her with even more of a sickening dread than she thought just the blindfold might. It seemed the most basic thing, to be able to open your eyes; until you couldn't. She was mostly undressed too. Her jeans and blazer removed and she was down to the silk camisole she had bought and worn under the cotton cami-tank and blazer earlier. She was laying on the floor with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied together and she was gagged. She didn't know how long she'd been there but there was a dull ache in her feet and lower legs and the hip she was laying on felt coldly painful.

She held herself as still as possible, listening for anything that could help her understand where she was. Trying to understand her situation as best as she could and the more she was able to take in, the more she realized that it didn't matter. It didn't matter that she knew she was in a building on or near the water since she could hear waves lapping. It didn't matter that she could smell motor oil and the other odors associated with any kind of engine maintenance. Nothing that she learned about her surroundings would matter very much as long as she was blind and bound. No one who would be inclined to help her knew where she was. Duke knew her plans to go to Audrey's apartment but he would have been gone before she even got there. She hadn't even tried to contact Audrey's former partner and Audrey herself was missing. Jennifer choked back a sob at the notion that she was likely to meet Audrey's fate.

'How much longer do we have to wait?"

She recognized the voice of the barista at the Grey Gull and the full weight of her arrogance and foolishness fell on her. Duke had been right, she should have taken what she had and got out of town.

"Vince was really specific about time. We wait."

She didn't recognize that voice but the name Vince made her want to vomit. She had looked right into the eyes of the man who apparently held a lot of authority with these guys.

"We should get her to call her sister. I bet the bitch shows up for her baby sister."

So Audrey was alive! Jennifer's heart kicked up a notch. And they were going to let her call her? Of course, it would be a trap, but Audrey would be ready for that. Maybe she could bring that detective, and maybe Jennifer could drop enough hints for Audrey to find and get Duke.

The other man didn't seem to disagree and Jennifer heard footsteps next to her, felt movement at her ankles, and then felt hands hauling her up onto her feet.

"Come on. Move."

She was pushed forward, but couldn't keep her footing, her hip giving out and her numb feet and legs not working as they should. She whimpered behind her gag just before she tripped and fell, trying to ask for help around the gag.

Later, she would see that moment as the beginning. It was the beginning of when she really knew that a person could hurt another and not care. That someone could really use their strength to inflict real pain on a weaker person. She had been aware of it, as much as anyone. But until she was kicked - hard - in the ribs while she lay on the floor it had only a peripheral awareness. She wasn't sure you could know how much a person could hate you, until they kept kicking and cursing you while you were down and defenseless.

She curled into the tightest ball she could make and could feel the blows raining now onto her back, arms and legs until a hand grasped her hair at the base of her skull and pulled her up, sobbing and less able to hold her footing than before, dragging her a distance she couldn't guess at before shoving her into a chair. With her eyes taped closed the tears couldn't fall like they were supposed to and made her eyes sting and burn all the more.

Someone struck her across the cheek and new pain exploded there as the world went quiet for a few seconds right before a strange and hollow ring started in her ears.

"Next time, fucking move." And he struck her again. It was the barista from the Gull. And she didn't understand why he would hate her so much. She huddled in the chair, sobbing and trying to catch her breath; her instinct to wrap her arms around herself thwarted by her wrists bound behind her. She tried to draw her knees up, only to have her ankles grabbed and forced back into place at the legs of the chair and the remnants of rope at each ankle tied down to the leg of the chair. She could move them just enough to cause the rough rope to scratch into her skin. Her wrists were given the same treatment.

"What's going on?"

She hadn't heard a door but it was reasonable to assume she would have missed it. That was a new voice, another one she didn't recognize.

"We're going to try to get her to call her sister. I mean, that was the point of capturing her, wasn't it?"

The newcomer grunted before asking, "how does she even call her?"

"I don't know how these bitches work. But she got out of that coffee house when she needed to."

So they HAD been behind that!

"And I bet if we can motivate her to, she'll call her sister."

Jennifer wondered what they were talking about, if she knew Audrey's phone number she wouldn't have to look for her. But she'd had a taste of their motivation, and she was afraid.

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Duke took another drink and looked around the faces of the other poker players. Some of them were easier to read than others. With time to kill before he had to make his drop, he had eventually found himself to a secluded club not far from where the Rouge was docked. Cards, women and various other forms of vices were available. The card game was good, the whiskey was fine and the women... None of them were petite, and pale and perfect. He checked his watch, and saw that it was a little past eleven. Less than an hour before he would be done with this job and town. Jennifer should be safe in her hotel room now if she had been successful in getting in and out of Audrey's apartment. He didn't want to think about the alternative. He didn't want to get involved any more and he didn't want to want her any more. When this hand of cards was over, he was out of here.

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"What the hell are you doing?!" Dwight walked into to see Jennifer's head whipping to the side, small drops of blood flying and her hair fanning out.

Jennifer was sure she recognized the form of the guy who had grabbed her at Audrey's apartment. He was still the biggest person she's ever seen and he looked roughly the way a modern Viking might.

Dwight looked down at Audrey's little sister and really hoped that he wasn't going to get shot for letting this happen. It would figure that Wade and the guys would get creative while waiting. It would figure that the reason they thought midnight was the necessary time to dispense with the girl they thought was a witch would also be because it gave them time to torment her. She didn't show signs of being raped and he thanked everyone's lucky stars for that. But the forming bruises on her cheeks and the cut on her lip, along with the tears, blood and terrified face was more than enough fill him with a crushing regret for leaving her here to go and get the boat.

"Trying to get her to call her sister. I'm thinking that if we want Audrey Parker, this is our best chance for getting her out of hiding."

"The Masons adopted Audrey from foster care. There's not even a reason to think that Jennifer would be able to summon her."

Brian, one of Wade's accomplices simply shrugged.

"It was worth a try," Wade replied.

Dwight stared at him until Wade looked away.

"Are we about ready to go?" Jack Driscoll stepped in to urge the process along. If Audrey Parker, the woman who shot and killed the uncle who raised him and his brother, couldn't be made to pay for her sins, he would be content to let her little sister make a down payment. Audrey would know what it felt like to lose someone and it might lure her out.

"Just need to finish tying her down," Wade answered and moved back to her. "You better do what you can to get your sister here. She's the only chance you've got."

As if they'd let her go now that she could identify them. She glared up at him.

"Drop dead."

She watched as the barista's sneer melted into fury, but it was the most recent arrival who stepped forward and struck her hard in the face.

"Keep your curses to yourself, witch."

He set his hands at her throat and squeezed, cutting off her attempt to drag breath into her lungs. She felt her eyes burning with her lungs and her body convulse before the world started to go dark and the Viking yelled at the man to stop.

"Goddamit Jack. What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it matter if she's dead before we drop her in or not?"

"Tradition," Wade snapped. "They get three chances to confess and repent. That's how we do this."

Dwight clenched his jaw, but nodded his agreement. "Let's go."

"What are you talking about? What are you doing -"

Her questions were abruptly cut off when the one named Jack punched her in the stomach and all of her breath wheezed out. For a moment, she couldn't breathe again and the world went hazy and dim and she was aware that the chair she was tied to was being dragged away.

"Don't fucking talk."

She thought she felt the Viking's hand give her wrist a soft squeeze as he walked by to hold open the door.

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Dave watched as the smuggler lowered his skiff into the bay and checked his watch.

"Good that you're punctual Mr. Crocker. But then, punctuality is the thief of time and your reputation does precede you." He sent a text message to Vince who was in place on the island where Duke would be near.

Vince read the text message and spoke into the small microphone that transmitted into a small microphone in Dwight's ear, "Crocker is moving into place. Stand by."

Dwight swallowed. They had better be right about the kind of man Duke Crocker was. Jennifer's life absolutely depended on it, and in a real way, so did Audrey's.

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On the deck of the fishing boat, Aiden, Jack's brother was hanging up and pocketing his cell phone.

"That was Jordan. No movement from Wuornos. Still no sign of Parker."

"I still say she got a warning to her sister in the coffee shop," Jack responded. "And if she can connect with her that way, then she'll know to come for her now. She'll come out to avenge her at any rate."

"Come on," Dwight urged. "Let's go." He cast a worried look at Jennifer. She was still recovering from Jack's sucker punch.

The boat was pushed off and Dwight took his place at the wheel, moving the boat to the position Vince had told him to take. He sighed when he heard Jennifer cry out again and start begging them to stop hitting her. He looked at the monogrammed handkerchief he had lifted from Jack and the hair he had collected from Wade. Well placed, he would be able to tie them to the crime. That is, if, Jennifer did what they thought she might and move to press charges. He carefully stuffed the handkerchief into a small burlap pouch to keep Wade's hair in it and, stopping the boat and lowering the anchor, went back out onto deck in time to see Aiden strike her so hard that the crack echoed across the water. Vince's voice in his ear assured him that Crocker was in place.

"Come on," he called out with his best authority. He forced himself to ignore her cries and pleading and told Aiden to tear off a strip of duct tape as he forced Jennifer's mouth open, stuffing the balled up handkerchief inside and letting Aiden put the tape on her mouth.

"You have his attention, Dwight. He'll be there. Put her in."

Dwight gave the signal to dunk her and she went over. Dwight gave Crocker the longest he could, not wanting to arouse suspicion in the rest of the men that the prolonged time under for the first dunking had an ulterior motive. When he gave the approval to bring her back up, he channeled his relief into displaying the same shock and wonder to the sight of an empty chair that the rest of them did.

"Where the HELL is she?!" That was the outrage of Wade Osborn.

"That goddamned witch!"

Dwight thought that it was at least a consistency in superstitious belief that if witches really did have mysterious powers, they could and would save themselves from danger.

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So, the old draft on Jennifer's rescue gets it's own chapter. Hope you still like it. Part 9 is next. I'm having fun writing this so thanks to Ann for the idea. Feel free to make more requests, AU or canon, full story or scene. I like writing Duke and Jennifer.