CHAPTER 24 ~ STABILIZED

“Joe, I’m worried; she should be back by now,” Edie called, entering his office without knocking on the open door. She found him looking out the window again, his gaze on the sidewalk below.

“I know,” Joe replied, looking at her for a moment, then sitting in his chair, resting his arms atop his desk. “Detective Hughs is on his way here, maybe in the elevator right now. When I called and told him what Cathy was doing, he said he wanted to come talk in person.”

“And here I am,” Hughs said moments later, knocking twice on the door, then entering behind Edie and sitting in a chair near Joe’s desk. “So, Ms. Chandler thinks she may have found a link between the Protectors building and the subway lines that Walker may be using to get around surveillance?”

“She said she was going to look into the building,” Joe stated. “I’m not sure if she’s found anything yet or not. But she’s missing now, and she’s interviewed Jason Walker twice. If he is guilty and suspects her, who knows what he’ll do. After all, the Slasher attacked a cop that tried to stop him. I want to find out where she is.”

“How do you want to do that?” posed Hughs. “Do you know for certain that she left the archives?”

“I was about to tell Joe,” Edie interjected, “I just got off the phone with the curator. When I described Cathy and what she was looking for, he told me she found the information she needed and left there almost an hour ago. I know traffic is bad, but she should have long since been here.”

“What are we waiting for?!” Joe declared, rising quickly from his seat.

“A moment, Maxwell.” Hughs also rose and held up a hand to forestall a rush out the door. “This is why I wanted to come. We can’t go off half-cocked. We don’t have enough for a search warrant, so we need to be careful not to provoke a harassment charge. We don’t even have enough to assume they have her or know where she is. She could have been starving and stopped to grab a bite somewhere before coming back here.”

“And if I’m right?” Joe demanded. “We can’t just leave her with them.”

“Tell you what, you and I can go together to check out the Protectors HQ,” offered Hughs. “We’re colleagues who need to get in touch with her and she said she might be there. But this is unofficial. I don’t have to tell you how much trouble a false accusation charge can bring.”

“All right,” Joe conceded. “As long as we do something. Edie,” he turned toward her, “can you hang out a little longer in case she comes back while I’m gone? Ask her to wait for me to return. I want to know what she found.”

“No problem. I’ll keep watch near the door. I won’t leave ‘til you get back.”

Joe grabbed his jacket, and they left his office, then the men left the building.

* * *

“Vincent!” called Winslow, catching up to him. “Mouse saw you chasing the vigilante through here. What happened?”

Vincent kept walking, his inner self tense with the need to ensure Catherine’s safety, as Winslow, torch in one hand, staff in the other, fell in step beside him.

“It’s a long story.” Vincent reached a hand to his chest, pulling his shirt away from his wound.

Winslow watched, noting Vincent’s injury, then said, “I think I want to hear it.”

“Suffice to say, the vigilante is dead. He fell into the abyss in the Whispering Gallery. I’ll tell all later. We need to repair the bridge. A couple of boards on the walkway have broken. We also need to seal the tunnels as discussed. I have a feeling the police from Above may come in search of the vigilante. We need to make sure they don’t find us.”

“All right. I’ll call the others and get started on that.” Winslow looked around, noticing they were headed away from the deeper tunnels. “Where are we going?”

“The vigilante brought Catherine down here.”

* * *

Catherine heard voices coming from the direction in which Vincent had chased Jace. She stood, moving toward the noise, and overheard Vincent talking with someone unfamiliar to her.

“The vigilante brought Catherine down here,” Catherine heard Vincent say. “I’m going to make sure she’s all right and help her get out if she needs it.”

“I see,” rejoined the stranger, a smile in his voice. “So, when are we all going to get to meet Catherine?”

“We’ll see,” Vincent replied ambiguously. “Please go on back and get started. I’m not sure how much time we have. I’ll be along as quickly as I can.”

“All right.” As their silhouettes came into Catherine’s view, the stranger chuckled, adding, “See you soon… Handsome.” He laughed, lightly clapped Vincent’s back, and returned into the tunnels.

Catherine saw Vincent shake his head, then heard humor in his voice as he called out to the other man, “You really need to stop that.” Then Vincent headed for her.

As he neared, Vincent reached for Catherine; she stretched her arms up, stepping into his embrace. For a moment, they simply held each other.

“Are you all right?” Vincent asked, holding Catherine tight, his mouth near her ear.

Catherine nodded, murmuring, “Yes. I’m fine. Are you?” She pulled back, looking at him, and gasped at the wound on his chest. “What happened?!” She raised her hand to his injury.

“It’s just a scratch.” Vincent paused a moment. “The vigilante is dead. He fell into an abyss when he tried to use a vine to swing over it. What of the other two?”

“They left. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop them, so I didn’t even try. You need to go see Father and have him check this.” Catherine gently ran her fingers around his wound. “I wish I could come with you. But I have to get back. My boss is waiting for me.”

Vincent nodded, asking, “Do you need help finding your way out?”

Catherine shook her head, answering, “No, I know where the entrance to Jace’s building is. I can go out through there.”

“Very well.” Vincent turned to go.

“And, please,” Catherine caught his arm, stopping him until he looked at her, then requested, “come see me tonight? Please?”

Vincent smiled softly, nodded, then backed a few steps away.

“Oh, Vincent?” Catherine called, taking a step toward him. When he paused, she asked with a grin, “Why was that man teasing you and calling you ‘handsome’?”

Vincent huffed a laugh, then replied, “After Lana saw the vigilante, she told us he looked like ‘some kind of weird cat-thing’. Winslow was there when I asked her if the vigilante looked like me. She said he looked fake, whereas I looked… handsome.”

Catherine smiled, nodding, and acknowledged, “Ah. I see.”

Vincent’s smile remained as he shrugged his shoulders and backed away.

“Well, you know,” Catherine propounded, taking another step toward him. When he stopped to listen, she grinned, declaring, “Lana is right.” Then she turned and left.

Vincent’s smile stretched wide as he resumed his journey. He joined Winslow near the area where they had prepared supplies to seal off that section.

“I piped your request to seal these areas. Cullen and Mouse are headed to the one off the subway lines. Kanin is on his way here to help us. Is Catherine okay?”

“She is. She’s headed Above right now. Soon the authorities will know of the vigilante’s entrance.”

“Then I guess we’d better hurry.”

* * *

Catherine retrieved Red’s lantern from where he had left it and made her way back along the litter-strewn path to the entrance into the Protectors building. Grateful to find that the door only locked with a bolt on the inside, and that no one had been there to lock it, she entered at the bottom of the staircase, bolting the door behind her. She blew out the now unnecessary lantern, hanging it back on its nail, and climbed back up the long flight to the landing outside Jace’s office. A few minutes’ search revealed the release mechanism, which she soon figured out how to activate. The door swung open, and she entered the office, closing the portal behind her.

She released a heavy sigh, then sat for a moment, weary of the unexpected adventure and pleased to be safe. Then she retrieved her notebook and departed the office, ensuring the door was not locked, and made her way down to the main floor. When she left the stairwell, she was surprised to see Joe and Detective Hughs entering the building, their eyes scanning the room. When Joe saw her, she watched relief flash across his features as he visibly relaxed. She stayed where she was as they approached her.

“You good, Radcliffe?” Joe asked, leading Hughs up the steps to the stage.

“I’m good. Surprised to see you two here.”

“When you didn’t make it back to the office on time, I figured you might need a hand getting home.” Joe smiled, but his gaze continued to scan the room. “So, where’s Walker?”

Catherine noted the few people in the room beginning to pay attention to them, so she said, “This way,” gesturing to the stairs up to the office. Once there, she recounted to them her discovery of the secret tunnels under the building and her forced visit to Jason Walker. “When he realized I could dispute his alibi, he took me into the tunnel, here.” She showed them the hidden access and led them down the stairs, opening the door at the bottom. “He threatened me. I was afraid he’d kill me, but…” she glanced between them, “a… homeless man, who I’m guessing lives or scavenges down here, saw them and heard them. When he called out a challenge, I guess they figured they didn’t want to be witnessed murdering someone; they ran off. They went that way,” she pointed in the direction Red and Suki had taken, “which I think is the way toward the subway. I bet they’re headed out of state by now, since their plans fell apart.”

“A homeless man, huh?” Hughs remarked.

She looked at him and saw him raise his eyebrows at her, just as he had in the conference room the day they met. She got the feeling he suspected something was off about her story.

“That’s a guess on my part,” she told him. “But when they left, so did he.”

“Can you give a description of him in case we find them, and he needs to be a witness on your behalf?

“No.” Catherine hoped her response had not been too quick. “There was a lantern lighting us, but he stayed in the shadows.”

“I see.” He nodded, then looked at Joe. “Maxwell, I think this case is going to go cold from here. These subterranean pathways crisscross all over under this city. They could hide down here for years or find a way out and be long gone while we’re searching underground for them. If they’re smart, and from how they’ve run this I’m betting they are, that’s what they’ll do. I think a search would be a fruitless waste of resources. I think the best we can do is put out APBs for each of them, wanted for questioning, and hope they turn up somewhere. Unfortunately, it’ll be Ms. Chandler’s word against the three of them, if they’re ever found. Everything else is circumstantial.”

“It really irritates me that we might lose them,” Joe groused.

“Me, too,” Catherine agreed, “but at least the killings will stop.”

“Yeah. Small comfort.” Joe looked between them for a moment, then started up the stairs. “Well, Detective, if you think we’ve gone as far as we can, I guess it’s time to head back. Cathy, we need to let Edie know you’re okay. She’s still at the office. She was really worried, considering what we found out about Walker.”

“Can we call her from here? I’d like to get home soon. This has been a long day.”

“Sure.”

“Perfect.” Catherine closed and bolted the tunnel door before following the men back up to the office. One quick call let Edie know Catherine was safe; a second ordered a delivery to Catherine’s apartment from her favorite take-out place. When they left the building, Hughs took Catherine home first.

* * *

Catherine’s dinner arrived at her building when she did. She went to her apartment, changed into comfortable clothes, ate quickly, and made a phone call.

“Isaac? It’s Cathy.”

“Hello! I’m glad you called. I gotta tell you, Cathy, I’m really upset about the Subway Slasher assaulting that policeman. There’s no way he could justify that. It’s flat wrong. I think you may have been right about him. A good man wouldn’t do that.”

“Thank you, Isaac. But I called to tell you I know who he is. He’s Jason Walker.” She succinctly related to him her events of the evening. Shocked silence greeted her for a moment.

“Wow. I’m sorry, Cathy. I can’t believe he did that to you. And I know you wouldn’t make anything like this up. He’s clearly no longer the man he used to be. He let the negativity destroy him instead of overcoming the evil with good. I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”

“I’m sorry, too, Isaac. I know he was a good friend of yours. And he had established a wonderful program, people helping people. I wonder what will become of that now.”

“Only time will tell. Listen, I hate to cut this short, but I got somebody comin’ by in a few. I need to get going. You stay in touch.”

“I will. Take care, Isaac.”

After hanging up, Catherine went out to her balcony to find Vincent waiting in the shadows. He approached her where she stood near her balcony doors.

“Thank you for coming.” She stepped into him and received the hug she needed. After a few moments, she pulled back and gently ran her hand over the spot on his chest where she knew Jace had scratched him. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. The injury was minor. It’ll heal soon. What did you tell your superiors?”

“Just as I was leaving the building, I saw my boss and the new detective, who we’re working with on this case, entering it. I told them as close to the truth as I could.” She relayed the information she had given to Joe and Hughs, and Hughs’ response. “I got the feeling the detective suspected there might be more to my report, but he seemed to drop it, so I’m not concerned. And it sounds like the tunnels will be safe from a search.”

“I’m glad of that, but we’ll keep those sections closed for the time being, just in case.”

“That’s probably wise.” She paused a moment, then asked, “So, you never found a body?”

“The children say that abyss goes down forever.” They walked across her balcony. “Too deep and dangerous for us to plumb.” They stopped near the balustrade; he gazed out over the city as she watched him. “He’s dead, Catherine.” He looked at her as she leaned her hips against the balcony wall, frowning at his chest. “And his shadow has lifted from your heart.”

She sighed, turning her head to behold the city over her shoulder, her frown remaining as she remarked, “The killings will stop. But they’ll never know.” She regarded him. “Never know if he’s dead or gone or…” she sighed once more, again eyeing the cityscape, “just waiting down there until he’s needed again.”

Vincent contemplated the city lights, considering her assessment.

“Like King Arthur,” Catherine added, smiling softly, turning her gaze back to Vincent. “I think Jace would like that.” She half turned, facing the city, then sighed, her smile fading into a frown. “How can one man have so much courage and empathy and passion,” she looked back at Vincent, “and so little mercy?”

“Perhaps he lost it somewhere.” Vincent met her eyes, adding with a soft smile, “But he found it again… in the end.”

Catherine smiled and nodded. As she leaned into him, stretching her arms around him, her head on his chest, her eyes closed, he rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes. His arm slid around her, returning her embrace.

Both felt the pleasure of being together fill them with grateful contentedness.