Annie was led from the apartment, down the steps and onto the street. The gun pressed into her back kept her from screaming for help. She was assisted into a car, her captor getting in beside her.
Unable to contain her words of contempt now that they were in the closed environment of the car, she spat out, "How dare you do this to me and my family. I heard that woman talk to you of honor. To kidnap women after promising to keep them safe from harm is a cowardly act. For entertainment, what do you do? Pull the whiskers off kittens? Take candy away from children? Or perhaps you just lay down and snivel for the men you work for."
He did not react as she had thought. She waited for the stinging blow that never came and was unable to see the sadness in his eyes at what he was doing. In a quiet voice, he answered, "Do not think harsh of me, Mrs. Blaisdell. These men wanted to kill your son and beat you. I told them that would only anger the police. That, instead, they should only kidnap you and make a messenger of Mr. Caine."
Grateful for the camouflage of her sunglasses, Annie nodded, only saying, "Thank you. Wh-When you said they should make a messenger out of Peter…," she couldn't bring herself to ask the question. In her mind, she could see Peter trying to protect her, giving his life up for her. Closing her eyes against escaping tears, she forced herself to find out what had happened. "How did they do it?"
"I assure you he is alive, Ms. Blaisdell. The message was delivered, and now, to deliver you."
Lo Ma sat back in his seat then nodded his head to the driver who pulled the car out into the traffic. What they planned to do tonight might bring honor back to their name. 'Even the dead deserve to be remembered with honor, not shame,' he thought as watched the scenery pass by.
Swollen eyes helped Peter feign sleep as he listened to Kaylia explain about the double cross that had put Peter on his back and his mother's life at risk. The weakness that still inhabited his body aided in the ruse, lulling Paul into thinking that it was safe to talk in front of him.
"Where is she?" Peter heard the unmistakable voice of his foster father.
Rustle of fabric, the soft intake of breath as if being startled helped Peter to see with his mind that Paul had grabbed the woman by the arms. 'Careful, Paul,' Peter thought, also wanting to hear the information the visitor possessed.
"Please, you are hurting me," the soprano voice whined.
"I-I'm sorry," Paul answered. "I'm very worried about her. Peter said he hid her in Chinatown, but not where. Do you know where she is?"
Peter listened to the woman tell of her son and his arrest on drug trafficking charges. His upcoming trial where Kelly Blaisdell would testify she saw the delinquent son and another young man involved in a drug transaction. Peter couldn't place the woman's voice, nor did he know her full name to put a face with the suspect.
"They threatened my husband, telling him that they will kill our daughter, Lo Ma. She is only a child," the woman continued to explain while Paul kept silent.
'Lo Ma?' Peter's mind slowly started to process the information. Flashback scenes to watching two men follow him and Annie into the restaurant, the continued stares and nods toward them, the owner pushing a young girl toward Peter as the two men made their move toward Annie and Peter.
**Flashback
"Oh, Peter, Paul is going to love this." Annie smiled as they discussed the upcoming birthday bash. "Have you told the precinct yet?"
Thankful for his mother's blindness, Peter continued to watch the two men who had come into the Silver Dragon only minutes ago. The one facing Peter continued to watch the couple, nodding and grinning at his dining partner's remarks. Something about them Peter recognized, though he couldn't put it in words. Knowing she could pick up on feelings, he tried to remain calm, eating at what he thought was a normal pace, answering as calmly as possible.
"No, not yet. You know how the gossip vine is. Once I say anything about it, it wouldn't be a surprise any more. I thought we could just surprise everyone. Besides, what could they buy him?" he answered back, the chuckle in his voice real.
Annie laughed, knowing her husband's complaints about unneeded gifts from every occasion. "You're right. I like the idea of a giant surprise party."
One of the two men signaled toward the kitchen door, where a short Asian man stood. He came over to the two, then pointed toward Annie and Peter's direction.
The hair on the back of Peter's neck began to stand up as the young waitress approached. "Mom, I need you to go with Lo Ma. She'll take care of you, okay?" He clasped her hands and stood. He felt his own hands tremble and cursed his body for giving her any hints of fear.
"Peter, tell me what is going on," the mother pleaded.
"I think we are fixing to be in trouble," he answered and to himself replied, 'I think I know these guys.' "Please, Mom."
Lo Ma took Annie's hand from Peter and led the visibly distraught woman away, while Peter blocked the aisle. He watched as Lo Ma and Annie turned the corner, then turned to see the two approaching men.
Walking in single file, the first man approached Peter with his hands up in an aggressive posture. A glint from the butt of a gun from the man's waist alerted Peter even more as he moved into a more defensive posture, wanting to buy his mother and Lo Ma some time.
"Where did she go?" the first man asked as the second man came around the table.
"Who, the waitress? Look guys, if you are getting lousy service, you might want to tip better."
Peter's smiled faded as the first man took a lunge toward him. Grabbing the aggressors wrists, Peter twisted and turned with his back to the man, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the round table, then stopped as he saw the second man push the barrel of a gun into the owner's side.
**end flashback
Kaylia finished her tale, unable to provide more information to the worried and anxious husband.
"Your son, what is his name?" Paul asked, as Peter continued his imitation of an opossum.
'Le Chin,' Peter thought in unison with Kaylia's words. He'd been working on the case for several months and had finally found the connection with a major dealer. Chin had bragged about how he was going to be found innocent, but had not alluded to how that would come about when Peter told him of the airtight case against the hoodlum. None of the officer's had thought Kelly Blaisdell would become a pawn to a game of cat and mouse.
The door opened and Peter heard his sisters coming back into the room.
Peter heard Paul say, "Carolyn, stay with Peter. Kelly, take Mrs. Le to the cafeteria and wait with her until I get back." The hesitation in Paul's steps and words had Peter confused for a moment, until he felt the warm caress of his foster father's hand on his bruised cheek.
It took all of Peter's willpower to not instinctively press into the hand, to keep his breathing regular and continue to feign sleep.
Waiting until only Carolyn was in the room, Peter opened his one good eye as far as he could. "Sis?"
"Peter, you're awake." Carolyn's voice betrayed the sad smile on her face.
Attempting a smile of his own, Peter whispered, "Can you go get me a coke?"
"I'll call the nurse, she can bring you one."
"No, please. I'm-I'm thirsty and it takes so l-long for them to answer."
Carolyn looked at her brother, suspicious of his request. Seeing how he slowly moved and hearing the tiredness in his voice, she gave in. "Yeah, they are kind of busy. You'll be all right? I mean, it may take me a little time to get one."
Peter nodded his head. "I won't go any where."
Carolyn reached for her purse, then reached down to pull the lower bed rail up and lock it into place.
"No, don't. Please?" Peter stopped her.
A more sincere smiled graced her lips, "I don't want you to fall out of bed."
Weakly, Peter answered, "I haven't f-fallen out of bed since I was three."
Leaving the bed rail down, Carolyn kissed her brother's cheek. "I'll be right back."
After he was sure he was completely alone in the room, Peter slowly pushed and pulled himself up to a sitting position. While waiting for his head to stop spinning, he started peeling off the tape that held the IV in place after first turning off the IV machine and clamping the blood. He then grabbed the sheet and pressed it against the blow flow from his arms and pulled the plastic cannula off.
Thankful the doctor had not place the telemetry unit on him, Peter stood and walked to the small closet, using the wall for support. Dressing was the hardest job. His shoulders still ached, he suspected one had been pulled out of joint when his arms were pinioned behind him during the beating.
He thought seriously about sitting down, letting Paul and Frank and the other officers find Annie, but he was the one that let her get taken by the double cross so it was up to him to get her back safely. Ignoring the pain, he worked as quickly as his body allowed him, then opened the door to leave.