Part 8

She had been back from the museum only minutes before Paul and Kermit's arrival. Marie watched through her barely opened front door as the two men entered Peter's apartment. It was her job to monitor the actions in and around the apartment and notify her boss if something was happening.

Her sleep had been disturbed since that night of the stabbing. Her waking hours hadn't been any better. She felt nauseous and frightened for her life and those that Xia held prisoner.

Silently closing the door, she prayed that they would find the two victims before it was too late. Tears streamed down her face as she sat down heavily in an overstuffed chair. 'How has my life gotten into such a mess?' she wondered.

A knock on the door made her wipe her eyes and halfheartedly hide the tracks the tears had made down her made-up face. She peeped through the small hole in the door and froze. This is not what she had planned.

"Ms. Turner, this is Captain Blaisdell. I need to ask you a few more questions," the baritone voice stated firmly.

She opened the door hesitantly, then jerked back as the older man put his hand around the edge of the door and pushed it open.

Paul and Kermit saw the black trails on her face and the red eyes, and felt the fear in the room.

"C-c-can I get you s-s-some tea?" Her voice trembled. She walked toward her kitchen as the two men walked down the short hallway and into the living room.

"No, thank you. We need to ask you some questions about where Detectives Peter Caine and Mary Margaret Skalaney are. I think you know more than what you are telling us," Paul began. When she didn't answer, he continued, "You didn't see Caine that night, did you?"

Marie shook her head and tried to think of a quick escape route. Her apartment mirrored Peter's with a wall dividing the kitchen from the entryway. "No, I didn't. I'm sorry, but if I hadn't done as she told me, she'd kill me," Marie blurted out, then stopped and took several deep breaths. "If she ever finds out that I am talking to you, then I will be the next of her 'sacrifices' as she calls them." Tears of remorse came again as she recalled the events of the past few weeks.

"I guess I need to start at the beginning. I was new to town. I- I ran away from home. Huh, that's sounds funny. A grown woman running away from home." She paused, reflecting back on her past. "When I arrived, oh, I was so lonely. This company had an ad for a secretary. I answered it. The woman there, my-my boss, she started talking and, well, I started believing her. Hmph, I was raised in a strict Christian home and taught the Ten Commandments every day. When I divorced my husband after he beat me, my church and family turned their backs on me." Marie paused; wiping at the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

"I didn't know anyone here and Xia just, she cared for me. What we did was wrong, but I am here to see it righted. Please, we have to hurry. Both Brother Pe…I mean Peter…and the woman…are to be sacrificed tonight. I left a clue that night hoping you would find it, but if you wait much longer…" Her words trailed off, but her meaning was clear.

Paul walked toward her and noticed her tense up. He stopped, not wanting to frighten her any more than they already had. "They're at the old museum, aren't they? How do we get in?" Paul asked as she nodded, confirming his suspicion.

Another knock at the door caused her to jump, her eyes going wide.

Paul slowly came toward her. "It's all right. It's probably Caine and another officer."

She opened the door to three men in the hallway. The large man she recognized as the officer who was at Peter's apartment the day Peter was found; the taller man was Caine, but she did not know the aged man who stood with them. "C-c-come in. Please," she invited weakly. Lo Si was introduced, as well as Chief Strenlich; then the newcomers were told of what had happened and was going to happen.

"Ms. Turner, how do we get in?" Paul asked again.

"There is an entrance for the followers of the Dragon." A brief sardonic smile played on her lips. "I always thought cults were for the weak. I didn't realize until now just how weak I was."

"One who knows men is clever; one who knows himself has insight," Caine quoted from the Tao.

"Well, I don't know if I have insight or am clever, but I think I'm learning. Come with me and I'll show you how to get in."

Paul thought about Caine's and Marie's words and applied them to himself. "Maybe I need to read your Book of Tao, Caine. Is our little group what Peter would call a Dragonswing?"

"It is," Lo Si answered, then bowed.

The six rescuers left the apartment, their destination the museum.

Peter saw blood bead and sometimes flow from Mary Margaret's leg as the dagger left its trail. Mary Margaret tried to pull away from the blade, but the restraints foiled her attempt.

'What better form of torture than to have the son of Kwai Chang Caine feel like a failure,' ran the conversation in Xia's head, causing her to stop the blade at Mary Margaret's thighs. 'Yes, Father. A simple execution is not good enough.'

"Alexander, the Lord Tan has just spoken to me. He spoke of your faithfulness, and wants you to introduce your seed into this lamb."

Xia's devilish smile angered Peter as he comprehended what Xia meant. His dark hazel eyes glared at Xia. "No! You can't do this!" Peter struggled weakly against Scott's grip as Alexander approached Xia. The loss of blood was draining Peter of energy, but he refused to give up.

Another follower handed a log pipe and lit it as Alexander put the pipe end to his lips. The smell of hash assaulted Peter and Mary Margaret's noses. It didn't take long for Alexander's eyes to glaze over from the drug, as the bulge in Alexander's robe grew. He clutched the robe hem and pulled it to his hips, exposing the lower half of his body.

Mary Margaret struggled harder against the restraints, the leather cutting into her flesh. She watched as Xia stroked and massaged Alexander, watched as the man's mouth turned up in a sneer. Mary Margaret looked briefly at Peter, knowing he couldn't do anything to help. She vowed to herself to continue fighting, but realization hit her that there was not going to be any rescue from the rape she was about to get. "Hail, Mary, full of grace…" She began chanting the prayer she had learned as a child, praying for rescue for both Peter and herself.

Peter watched and listened as his partner sent up her prayers. Anger built in him, burning brighter as he recalled what Tan and his family had done: destroying the temple he lived in as a boy, abducting Lo Si so Tan could kill Caine, and now this elaborate charade. The anger was not confined to only Tan, but was directed at himself, also, for not being able to help Mary Margaret and for believing his father had tried to kill him.

He couldn't watch the rape as it played out slowly before him. Peter could see her once fair skin turn red, then light blue, as Alexander forcefully groped at Mary Margaret. Instead, he looked for ways he could stop what was happening, knowing it would probably only stop the rape for a few minutes and leave him dead.

To Part 9

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