Revenge - part 2 of 5

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Revenge - Part 2 of 5

For disclaimers, see part 1

*********************************

Richie decided against going back to his old neighborhood. There were a
lot of bad memories there, and a lot of people he never wanted to run
into again. Besides, it wasn't the only place in town with cheap motels.
He finally settled on one that didn't look too bad, and had what
appeared to be a well-lit parking lot. The last thing he wanted was to
have his motorcycle stolen, or to be mugged in a dark parking lot.

He pulled into the lot, and parked his bike. He unfastened his duffel
bag from the back of the bike and headed for the motel lobby. Before he
reached it, a black Mercedes pulled into the lot and blocked his way.

Richie eyed the car somewhat suspiciously. It was the wrong kind of car
for this part of town. The driver got out of the car with a map in his
hands. The man was around six feet tall, with dark hair and a slim
build. His oriental features reminded Richie of someone, but he couldn't
figure out who.

"Excuse me. I seem to be lost," the man said with a cultured voice.
"Could you give me some directions?" He spread the map out on the hood
of the car.

Richie moved over to look at the map. "Where are you trying to go?"

Instead of an answer, he felt something hard crash down on the back of
his head, sending him into oblivion.

*****

Richie woke up in pain. It took several moments before his head cleared
enough to figure out why. He was resting up against some kind of pole,
and his hands were tied behind it, holding him in place. He was leaning
forward, putting strain on his wrists and shoulders. His head rested
down on his chest, causing his neck to ache.

Slowly, he tried to raise his head, but a sharp stabbing pain caused him
to moan. He shut his eyes as dizziness assailed him, and he desperately
tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he could recall was
a man who wanted some directions. Had he been mugged? And where was he?

He tried opening his eyes, and was glad that the world had stopped
spinning around. There wasn't a lot of light, but it looked like he was
in some kind of abandoned warehouse. Carefully, he tilted his head back,
trying to see what he was tied to. Once again, the movement caused pain
and dizziness. Eventually, he was able to see that he'd been tied to a
support girder. There was no way he would be able to move it to free
himself.

Next, he struggled with the ropes binding his wrists. He hoped there
would be enough slack in them, but all he managed to do was rub his
wrists raw. He had to accept the fact that he was not going to get free
on his own.

"Hey!" he called out. "Is anyone around?"

There was no answer.

Richie tried to get as comfortable as possible. Sitting on a concrete
floor, in a drafty warehouse, with his hands tied behind him, made that
a little difficult. He had a feeling that he was going to be here for a
while. He didn't know how long it would take Duncan and Tessa to even
realize he was missing. Sure, he was supposed to call Tessa once he'd
checked in, but would she just assume he'd forgotten to call?

And even if they did start to worry, how would they know where to look
for him? He didn't even know where he was, how could they?

Was it really possible that the whole setup - the photos, the bills, the
microphones - had been to get him kicked out of the antique store? Had
someone been willing to ruin Duncan and Tessa's relationship just to get
to Richie? Who would go to all that effort just to get to him?

Why did he have the sinking feeling that he was really in trouble this
time?

*****

Duncan felt a little unsettled being in the apartment alone. It wasn't
the first time, but somehow this seemed different. Knowing that Tessa
was so close but wouldn't be coming home made it seem worse. He couldn't
settle on any of the many tasks he knew he could do.

Finally, it was bedtime, and he went through the motions. But instead of
changing into pajamas, he changed into dark clothes. Quietly, he slipped
out the back door, and headed down the alley. He couldn't risk taking
the T-bird. The idea was to make whoever had bugged the apartment think
he was still there.

He had planned ahead. A rental car was parked several blocks away, and
he wasted no time driving to the Hilton. Here again, he parked several
blocks away. He went into a nearby restaurant and found a payphone. He
called the hotel and asked for Tessa's room. A few moment's later, he
had the room number and was on his way.

He took the elevator to the floor just below Tessa's, then headed for
the stairway. He climbed the stairs, then waited for her to come get
him. It was her task to make sure that no one was in the hall before he
showed up. He didn't have long to wait.

He was pleased to see that she had a room right across from the
stairway. It limited the time they could be seen together. Once inside
the room, with the door locked behind them, Duncan pulled her into a
tight embrace, and kissed her passionately.

"I've missed you," he murmured.

"It's only been a few hours," Tessa replied with a smile. "You can't be
suffering that much."

He kissed her again. "Oh, yes, I can."

She pulled him over to the sofa, and they sat down. "Has anyone
approached you yet?" she asked. "I want to come home."

"No, not yet, and I want you to come home, too. Unfortunately, we have
to wait until they make their move."

Tessa sighed and snuggled closer to Duncan. "I'm still not sure this is
such a good idea."

"I wish I could have come up with a better idea," Duncan admitted. "But
someone went to a lot of trouble to set this up, and I want to know
why." He pulled her even closer. "So, where is Richie staying?"

Tessa pulled away slightly, and looked up into Duncan's face. "He hasn't
called. I'm starting to get worried."

"Knowing Richie, he probably got sidetracked by a pretty face. He'll
remember in the morning and call you then. You can give him a lecture
about worrying you when he does."

"Don't think I won't!" Tessa warned. She stood up. "Let's go to bed."

Several hours later, Duncan reluctantly left. He didn't want to risk
spending the whole night with her. Someone could come looking for him at
any time - especially if it was another Immortal who had set this up.
Many Immortals preferred to battle late at night when there was less
chance of being seen by mortals.

*****

Richie stared out the filthy window on the far side of the warehouse,
bleary-eyed, watching as the sun slowly rose into view. He hadn't
managed to get much sleep, tied up as he was. The temperature had
dropped quite a bit, and he was cold. His head still hurt, and his whole
body ached.

Slowly, he licked his dry lips, wishing he had something to drink. He
was hoarse from calling for help over and over again. His last meal had
been lunch the previous day, and his stomach was protesting. To make
matters even worse, he really had to go to the bathroom. He didn't know
how much longer he would be able to hold it in.

The long night had given Richie too much time to think. He knew he
wasn't being held for a ransom, or as bait for the Highlander. If that
had been the case, the bad guy wouldn't have gone to so much effort to
make it look like Richie and Tessa were having an affair. It would have
been just as easy to grab him at any time.

His biggest fear was that whoever had done this wasn't going to ever
come back. Richie would slowly starve to death, and just the thought
terrified him. By the time his body was found, there would be nothing
left but bones. His only hope was that Duncan would somehow figure out
where he was, but he knew it was a slim chance, at best.

As more light filtered into the warehouse, Richie looked around, trying
to figure out why the place seemed so familiar. Finally, he realized
where he was. This was the same warehouse where he'd come to confront
Chu Lin, the man who'd drugged and killed his friend, Gary.

Was it just a coincidence?

Somehow, he didn't really think so. The man who'd clobbered him kind of
looked like Chu Lin, as well. But if that was the case, why kidnap him?
He hadn't been the one to kill Chu Lin - not that he hadn't wanted to.
It had been that Immortal, Kiem Sun, who'd killed his own student. And
to make matters worse, he'd waited until after Duncan had disarmed him.

So why had Richie been kidnapped? It didn't make any sense.

He had to get free!

He struggled to his feet, and moved around the girder so he could see
the whole warehouse. His duffel bag was sitting on the floor about six
feet away, but it might as well have been a mile. Whoever had done this
had made sure that nothing would be within Richie's reach as long as he
was tied up. Slowly, he slid back down to the ground.

*****

Several hours later, Richie stopped to take a rest. It hadn't taken long
before he'd realized he had only one slim chance to get free. He
couldn't untie the knots in the cords binding his hands, and the ropes
were too tight to slip out of. So he'd set to work, rubbing the ropes
along the edge of the girder. It was extremely difficult and tiring to
try to keep up enough pressure on the ropes, and to keep his arms in
constant motion. He just wished that he could tell whether he was
accomplishing anything, or not.

It was hard to keep working at it. Sometimes the sense of futility and
helplessness almost overwhelmed him. Only the thought of Duncan and
Tessa kept him at it. He knew they would start to worry soon. And he
knew it would be very difficult - especially for Tessa - to never know
what had really happened to him. Duncan would probably eventually
forget. He must be used to friends disappearing all the time. But not
Tessa. She'd probably drive Duncan and the cops crazy demanding to know
what had happened to Richie. She'd definitely harassed the cops before
when the Scot had disappeared suddenly.

A sudden noise drew his attention to the far side of the warehouse.
Maybe someone had found him.

"Help!" he called out hoarsely.

At first he thought he must have imagined the noise, but eventually, the
man who had knocked him out walked around some empty crates and came
over to stand in front of Richie. He studied the teenager without saying
a word.

"Why are you doing this?" Richie asked, putting as much defiance into
his voice as he could. "Let me go!"

The man threw back his head and laughed. He finally calmed down and
stated, "You're going to die here, Ryan. Slowly, and all alone. Just
like my brother."

"Let me guess - Chu Lin, right?"

"So, you remember the man you left here to die?"

"What?" Richie shook his head in confusion. "I didn't leave anyone here
to die! He was killed by someone else."

"That's not what his teacher said. He finally found Chu Lin three days
after you'd knocked him out, tied him up, then stabbed him with his own
sword. Unfortunately, he was too late to save his life. Chu Lin told him
what had happened with his last dying breath."

"That's not what happened!" Richie protested. "It was his teacher who
killed him, and he died quickly!"

"Kiem Sun said you would lie. I know all about you, Ryan. I've seen your
rap sheet. You are a two-bit thief and hustler. Kiem Sun has lived in a
Buddhist monastery for years. Any reasonable person would believe him
over you."

Richie didn't know what to say. How could he explain that Kiem Sun was
an Immortal who was trying to control the world using drugs? He could
tell him to talk to Duncan, but this guy might decide to kidnap the
Scot, as well. That would leave Tessa all alone, and he couldn't let
that happen.

"But I'm a cautious man," he continued. "I asked around about you.
Several people told me you were looking for Chu Lin - that you wanted
revenge because you thought he'd had something to do with the death of
one of your friends. One of them was even here when you attacked him."

"Yeah? And what happened then?"

"They said his teacher showed up and stopped the fight. They left after
that, so they didn't see what happened next. Kiem Sun thought you had
left, too, but he was wrong. You waited until after he'd gone to sneak
back in and hit Chu Lin over the head with a two by four. And we've
already discussed the rest of it."

"Lies. All lies."

"No, it's the truth. So, you are going to die, Ryan. And I'm going to
make sure it's nice and slow. I thought about stabbing you, but that
might go too quickly. Instead, I'm just going to let you starve to
death." He smiled at the thought. "I've gone to some expense to get my
revenge - and I think it's going to be worth every penny of it. No one
will be looking for you. You've been fired from your job, kicked out of
your home. I've bought this warehouse and have made sure that no one
will be able to get in here easily. I'll even come by and check up on
you every day, just to see how you're doing."

"Go to hell!"

He laughed again. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ryan," he said, before turning
to leave.

Once he was gone, Richie's strength failed him. He'd refused to show how
scared he was, but now that he was alone, he had to struggle to hold
back his tears. Finally, he managed to pull himself together and started
working on the ropes again.

*****

Duncan looked up from the display case when he heard the bell over the
front door ring. He was surprised to see Tessa standing inside the shop.
She wasn't supposed to be here.

"What are you doing back here?" he growled, while his eyes carefully
searched her face. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I left some of my things behind," she replied, walking toward the
office. She beckoned with one hand, and he followed her into the
apartment.

He went over to the kitchen sink and turned on the water, calling out as
if Tessa was walking away from him. "Hurry up. I don't have all day to
wait for you."

Tessa hugged him, then whispered into his ear, "Richie still hasn't
called. I'm worried about him."

Duncan hugged her back, trying to comfort her. Something must have
happened to the teenager, but if he said that, Tessa would worry even
more. "I'm sure there's a good reason."

"No, there's not! I even checked with all the hotels and motels in this
town. None of them have Richie registered there."

"Tessa, there are some motels in this town who probably don't even have
their guests register. All they care about is getting paid cash for the
room in advance."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't go to one of those, Duncan. Something
has happened. I know it."

"All right. Go pack up a bag, then go back to the hotel. I'll close up
the shop, and go look around for Richie. I'll let you know what I find
out tonight."

Tessa nodded, hugged Duncan again, then went back to the bedroom. After
she'd gone, the Scot closed the shop, and headed out to his T-bird.
Armed with a picture of Richie, he drove down to the teenager's old
neighborhood, asking questions at every motel he could find - no matter
how sleazy it was.

Eventually, he had to admit failure. Richie was nowhere to be found
around his old neighborhood, but Duncan wasn't ready to admit defeat. He
started checking out all the motels in town. It was early evening before
he had any luck. He'd just come out of yet another motel office when he
happened to glance at the parking lot. He spotted a motorcycle that
looked familiar and went over for a better look.

It was definitely Richie's - Duncan could tell by the license plate
number. He stalked back to the office to interrogate the clerk again. He
must have terrified the man so much that he was allowed to look through
all the registration slips, hoping to spot Richie's handwriting, but
that yielded nothing.

It was a small motel, only twenty rooms on two floors. Duncan slowly
walked along each room hoping to feel that slight tingle that told him
what Richie would become some day. When that failed, he started knocking
at doors, asking everyone who would answer whether they'd seen Richie
since the day before.

Totally frustrated at the lack of information, he went back to the T-
bird. Richie had to have been here, but why hadn't he checked in? Or if
he had, what name had he used? Unable to think of anything else to do,
he settled back to wait and watch. Maybe Richie had just gone out for
something to eat and would be back soon.

*****

Duncan gave up his vigil at 9:00 the next morning. While it was not
impossible that Richie would stay out all night - especially when he
didn't have Tessa or Duncan keeping an eye on him - it just didn't seem
likely in this case. Besides, he would have come back to the motel by
now, even if he had.

He drove home, took a quick shower, then went out again. This time his
destination was the Hilton. It didn't take long for Tessa to pack her
bags, and check out. There was no way he would let her stay that far
away from him. He couldn't take the risk that someone would try to grab
her, as well.

Once home, he went through the apartment and store with a scanning
device he'd borrowed from a friend, and destroyed all the microphone
bugs he could find. At this point, he didn't care if that tipped off
whoever had done this - maybe it would even force the person to act.

While he worked, he kept trying to figure out why someone would go to
all this effort. If they just wanted bait for a trap, they could have
kidnapped Richie or Tessa without this elaborate setup. The only other
option he could come up with made his stomach churn.

Duncan knew some Immortals hunted pre-Immortals - not to protect them
like the Scot was doing - but to take their heads. It was a quick and
easy way to get a Quickening. The pre-Immortal would never have a chance
to defend himself. He would be killed, then once he came back, his head
would be chopped off.

It was quite possible that an Immortal had set up this whole scenario to
get Richie off by himself. The simplest reason for the setup was to make
sure no one would be looking for the teenager - which would have been
true if Duncan had believed all those photos. The other option was that
whoever the other Immortal was, he knew of Duncan MacLeod's reputation
and was afraid that the Highlander would seek revenge.

In either case, Richie was still doomed, unless Duncan could find him
first. And he had to face the reality that it might already have
happened. Richie's headless body could be buried someplace where it
would never be found.

Duncan could only hope and pray that wasn't true. And that he would
somehow manage to find Richie in time. He'd grown quite fond of the
impetuous teenager, and he'd looked forward to watching him grow into a
mature adult with a bright future ahead of him.

"Who would do this, Duncan? Why would someone go to all this trouble to
get to Richie?"

Duncan spun around to face Tessa. He couldn't tell her his conclusions
because he didn't want her to know what Richie would someday be. "I
don't know, Tessa, but I'll find him."

"How? Where will you start?" she demanded.

He couldn't lie to her about that. She'd know in a instant if he tried.
Slowly, he shook his head. "I don't know."

She came over to him, and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her
tightly as he felt her shaking. He didn't have to look to know tears
were rolling down her face. He felt like he was letting her down - that
he'd already let Richie down. He should have kept them both safe, but
he'd played right into the trap by letting Richie leave.

"All right," he finally said, as he felt Tessa calm down. "Here's what
we're going to do. I want you to stay here in the apartment, keep the
doors locked, and don't open them for anyone. You can call Richie's
friends, and see if any of them have seen him recently. Also ask them if
anyone has been looking for information about him."

Tessa nodded. "I'll check the hospitals, too. Just in case..."

Duncan lightly brushed her cheek. "That's a good idea, too. And I'll go
back to the motel where I found Richie's bike. Maybe someone in that
area will remember seeing something."

Before he left, Duncan retrieved a light pistol from its storage case in
the closet, and loaded it. He'd taught Tessa how to shoot, but she'd
insisted that she didn't want a loaded gun around. He brought it out to
her and handed it over after making sure the safety was on.

"Keep this close," he said. "Just in case..."

Tessa looked like she wanted to protest, but finally she nodded.

He kissed her lightly. "I want to know you'll be safe while I'm gone."

"I will be," she replied. "Don't worry about me."

He smiled at her, lightly brushed her cheek again, then headed for the
back door.

***** end of part 2

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