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Nykki kept to the shadows as she made her survey of the second floor. She crept along the thickly carpeted corridor and cautiously rounded a corner. "Bingo!" she murmured to herself as she looked upon a guarded door. She glanced around the area. There did not seem to be anyone else other than the two guards around. She looked back at the sentries. Both were armed and definitely much larger than her, she would not be able to best them on sheer power, but maybe, she could surprise them.
"Why did the senator want us to be on guard tonight? The boy has never so much as tried to escape ever since he got caught the first time." "Haven't you heard? Mason Storm is on the loose. That's his son inside the room." "Huh, no wonder the added security. I heard that Mason Storm is out for the senator's blood." "Yeah, it'll be real interesting to see the two together. Maybe we'll get first-class seats." The two burst out laughing. Neither noticed a shadow moving towards them before it was too late. Nykki looked at the crumpled bodies of the guards on the ground and snorted disgustedly. It was a wonder they were hired in the first place. No guard would be so careless. She took away their guns and fumbled through their pockets. finally finding the key to the door. She slipped it into the lock and quietly opened the door. Before she had it opened more than a foot, a barrage of shots made her jump and slam the door closed. There didn't seem to be any movement from the inside of the room, but she stood outside with a gun in hand. She swore to herself. Damn! I should have known that they weren't that stupid. I'm the idiot here! Now, what am I to do? She glanced down the hallway and grinned as an idea popped into her head.
The door opened again and the two men watched it warily, weapons ready. One looked back at the tied and gagged young man lying at a far corner of the room, and met the latter's furious eyes. He allowed himself a small, devious smile. The door swung open, and to their amazement, in rolled a seven foot tall knight in armor. "What the fuck…" one shouted in disbelief. They started shooting in unison at the apparition from King Arthur's Round Table, heedlessly wasting ammunition. The suit of armor rolled inexorably towards them. As it plowed through the thick carpet, the two finally got their wits back and leapt out of the way. The suit of armor crashed into the wall behind them a moment later. "Fuck! Find the son of a bitch that did this, Ralph! I'll take the boy with me." Ralph nodded his agreement and headed cautiously to the wide open entrance. The other man hurriedly pulled Nicholas up and dragged him along. Before he had taken two steps, he heard a strangled cry. He shouted in frustration, "Damn, Ralph! Where are you? Answer me!" Gun in hand, he dropped Nicholas on the ground and headed to where he had heard the cry. "Come out whoever you are!" he shouted a few feet away from the entrance. Hearing no reply, he resorted to insults to lure the unseen assailant into the room. "Are you a man or a coward? A man would fight his opponents where they can see each other! Only a coward strikes from behind!" Disgusted with the silence, he, too, made for the door, but this time using more caution than Ralph. Like a ghost, Nykki suddenly materialized in front of the man. "I'm afraid you got it both wrong, sir," she said with a mischievous glint in her silver eyes. "I'm definitely not a coward, but neither am I a man, in the true sense of the word." And before the man could react, Nykki hit him with the butt of a large ax. The man fell like a dead ox. Nykki hurried to her twin, carefully using the blade of the ax to rid his bonds. He pulled the gag off and grinned widely at his twin. He looked at the ax she held in her hand admiringly. "I took it from the knight," she replied, inclining her head at the metallic mess nearby. Nicholas removed the remains of the ropes that had bound him from his wrists and enveloped his twin in a huge hug. "I don't know how can I thank you!" Nykki smiled at her twin, "I'll claim my reward from you later." "I never thought I'd say this, but you actually are a creative genius!" Nykki made a face at him. Nicholas ignored it and continued. "Remind me never to complain about unconventionality again." "Conventionality is so very dull, don't you think?" Nykki replied straight-faced. He could see that she was fighting not to smile. Nicholas got up and pulled his twin with him. "What's the position now?" he asked, the earlier teasing gone from his voice. Her face turned sober. She handed him one of the guns she had taken off the guards and quickly filled him in about the train station and the tapes. "Dad's here, he's looking for Vernon Trent." She summed up what had happened. Nykki looked up at her twin and answered his unspoken question. "Yes, Trent was the one who ordered the killing. Dad went to the ground floor. But I think he'll be upstairs by now. Dad's really bent on having revenge, but I made him promise not to take the law into his own hands…" "Then what are we supposed to do?" "Call the police, Dad's instructions." "After that?" "I don't know, I was thinking of going after Dad, but since we have no inkling of where he is, it could be rather dangerous. Another plan, we could go and find out whether CNN received the tapes ..." "Scratch that idea, the office is too far away from here. By the time we get there and back, everything could already be over," Nicholas interjected. She had picked a nearby phone and dialed 991. She made the report hurriedly and put the receiver down. "Right, so it's Dad right? Do we split up or stay together?" Nykki asked. "Together," Nicholas answered immediately. "Who knows what might happen if we split up? At least with two of us we could help each other." "All right then, let's go."
What the hell? Mason Storm started at the noise. I hope it's not the twins. He slowly walked past the unconscious bodies of the Senator's guards, picking up whatever guns he could find. As he strode past the body of a tall, well-built Nordic, he hand tightened on his gun. He had never regretted making a promise to daughter so much. Luke Gilchrist, the Senator's right-hand men and a professional hitman, was the one who had murdered his wife. Jackie, he thought as he walked away, Jackie, I'm sorry, I promised... He looked at the billiards table that had been broken when Luke had fallen on it and felt tears misting his eyes. "No!" He told himself roughly, his voice echoing in the still room. It's not time yet, there's still work to be done. He shook his head to clear it and hurried out of the games room. As he stepped out, he heard footsteps coming in his direction. He hid behind a large marble pillar and watched the newcomer approach. Michael Field was looking very agitated and holding his gun up, prepared to fire at any sound. So, Detective-Inspector Field, you found my message in the bathroom. It had been one of the best quotations he had read — "The anticipation of death is worse than death itself." He had been very proud of having found it while he was recuperating at Will's place. Mason Storm watched as the corrupt police officer stared at the ruins of the games room, and at the unconscious bodies in it. He turned and headed up the stairs.
Michael Field walked cautiously towards the steps. Suddenly, a voice shouted from behind him. "How does it feel to know that you're about to die?" The detective was so startled out of his wits, that he turned and emptied his gun into nothing. Useless clicks echoed in the wide hall. Field watched with fear as Mason Storm stepped out from the pillar where he had been hiding. "So, Michael, tell me, what made you want to become a bad cop? Was it money? Or something else?" Storm asked conversationally, each step bringing him closer to the police officer, until he was standing right in front of him. Field stayed silent, the fear which had grasped him when Storm appeared was beginning to abate. He glanced around furtively for a weapon, and spied the tongs near him next to the fireplace. Mason Storm saw him glance that way and was prepared when the detective tried to grab the pair of tongs. He grasped Field's hand as he lunged, reaching out for the metal tongs. "Oh no, Michael, no fighting yet, not before we have a small chat. What is your part in this?" No answer. Storm asked again. "What role did you play in all this? Don't make me ask a third time," he warned. Still no answer. "Well, you asked for it," Storm said sadly as he slowly twisted the Inspector's wrist backward. Pain surged up his arm. "I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, to become a good cop, but you didn't take it." Mason Storm continued twisting the hand. "Stop! Stop! I'll tell you!" Michael Field finally wheezed out. "It was the Senator who planned and ordered everything. I had nothing to do with it, all I was to do is to close one eye at some of his activities, that's it! I know nothing else about this whole matter!" "And Vernon Trent? Where is he?" "Somewhere upstairs, I last saw him in the Jacuzzi, he's not there anymore… I've told you all I know, please, please let me go!" As he finished the sentence, he felt a blow land on the back of his head and blackness surrounded him like a shroud. Mason Storm calmly landed a blow on the back of his skull, a blow calculated to only render the officer unconscious, with no other damage. Storm climbed the first steps. "Vernon, oh Vernon, where are you? It's time to end this cat-and-mouse game, time to confess to the proper authorities. Oh Vernon, you're so good at this, planning things, painting scenarios and framing people, then hiding yourself… but it's now over." He reached the second level and turned left into a large, thickly carpeted corridor. "Show yourself Vernon, show yourself, there's no use hiding, I'll find you…"
The twins carefully looked at every unconscious face in the games room. "Nykki, Dad's not here." "I know," she answered distractedly. Nicholas looked for what she was staring at. A tall, blond and powerfully built man caught his eye. He recognized the Nordic's face from Nykki's dreams and descriptions. It was the man who had murdered Jackie Storm. "Nykki, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "I want to kill him." Her voice was perfectly flat and it scared him. "Nykki, you're almost a FBI agent. You can't do things like that." "How come? I have authority to shoot and kill." "It'll be murder. He's unconscious, he's not doing anything to harm you." "I can always say he's trying to escape. That'll be enough excuse. He also killed my mother, took my father away from me and kidnapped my twin. He deserves it." "If you kill him, you'll be relegated to the same level as him. Do you want that?" he asked. "I…" she remembered she had said the same thing to her father. She took a deep breath to clear her jumbled thoughts. Her father had remembered his promise, could she ignore her own words? Could she do something when she had told another not to do it? "No," she finally answered. Nicholas heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Let's look for Dad. Where do you think he is? Upstairs?" "That's the only place he can be. We look for him, or stay here?" Before Nicholas could reply, he heard sirens from the outside. "Nykki, the police are here, I think we should speak to them first." If Nykki answered him, he didn't hear it as she was already half-way out of the room.
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