"I should probably say that my son will also be the heir to the Ambrose fortune."
Debbie tried to keep herself from screaming. She knew that was what the woman in the pink pants suit, Kylie Naysmith, wanted. She wanted to see Debbie break. Well, if Kylie Naysmith wanted Debbie to break, revealing her affair with her beloved boyfriend, Alex Ambrose, was the way to do it. Not only that, revealing that the affair left her pregnant. From the size of her baby bump, the affair had been going on for months.
The toilet bowl was the only thing keeping Debbie upright. Her head swam with confusion as she processed what Kylie was saying. She looked over her shoulder at Kylie, feeling fuzzy. The woman cradled her baby bump.
"This must be hard on you," Kylie said. "Oh, you and Lexipoo never discussed having a family, did you?" She patted the bump, and Debbie dry heaved.
Despite herself, Debbie had to know. "How long?" Her voice came out weak and strained.
Kylie's lips curled into an evil smile.
"Longer than you can handle," she said. "Best not to worry. Lexipoo was going to leave you, anyway, and marry me shortly before Junior was born. It's not the quickest way to unite our business empires, but there's far less paperwork involved."
That flipped a switch for Debbie. Without thinking, she pushed herself up from the floor, using the toilet for support, and rounded on Kylie. Rage filled her as she thought of everything Alex had been doing behind her back. He had been planning to marry this woman? And have a baby? All that just for a business merger?
I really don't know him at all, Debbie thought angrily. Did he ever truly love me?
Kylie threw her head back in a shrill cackle. Debbie stood on uneasy legs, but something inside of her kept her upright.
"What are you going to do?" Kylie taunted, tightly clutching her bump. "You can't hurt a pregnant woman. Alex tells me about you. So soft and meek and mild-mannered. You wouldn't hurt a fly."
Debbie lunged, her hands outstretched, reaching for Kylie's neck. Kylie's eyes widened with surprise, and she stepped to the side. Debbie grabbed air. She rounded to face Kylie, who had gone pale with shock. She was no longer clutching the baby bump, which hung a little looser now. So, Debbie lunged for her again. This time, she grabbed the collar of her starched shirt and pulled hard, then ran backwards and swung Kylie into the wall. Kylie bounced off the wall and fell to the floor, shaking violently. When she went still, she looked up at Debbie, and smiled.
"Oh, you have some bite, don't you?" she said. A thin line of blood trickled down her chin as she looked at Debbie with wild eyes.
Kylie pushed herself to her feet, moving with a nimble grace that Debbie never would have thought possible for someone in her condition. Kylie rushed at Debbie, and Debbie dodged, pushing her shoulder into Kylie's chest. She yelped, grabbing onto Debbie's hair. Debbie gritted her teeth as Kylie yanked on her hair, craning her neck so far back she could see the ceiling.
Debbie braced herself, then kicked Kylie's legs out from under her. Kylie stumbled, letting go of Debbie, and Debbie planted a kick in Kylie's side. Something gave way under Kylie's shirt, but Debbie didn't see what it was. Kylie toppled to the side, and her shirt popped open at the bottom, revealing a hard blue plastic shell.
Debbie paused to catch her breath and understand what she was seeing. Kylie got on her knees, and the blue shell fell off, clattering to the floor. It rolled away, and a few pieces of cloth fell out from under Kylie's shirt. The little skin that showed through her shirt had red depression marks. Debbie looked at the plastic shell. It had straps around it, and one of them had broken, possibly when Debbie had kicked Kylie.
"You were lying?" Debbie asked, confused.
Kylie panted as she got to her feet. "I doubted you," she said. "You're a strong woman."
"You were lying?" Debbie repeated.
Kylie grinned. "Got to break you somehow," she said with a shrug. "Nothing personal. We just have our eyes set on Alex."
"We?" Debbie asked, running a hand over her hair and looking off to the side. "Who's we?"
Kylie smiled again. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Before Debbie could lunge for her again, Kylie ran out of the room, sealing the door behind her, and disappeared into the tunnels beneath the bunker.
******
The trail wasn't hard to find, but it gave Alex and Yvonne a challenge. As they made their way deeper into the forest, the trail became more difficult to spot. Alex was thankful for Yvonne. She had a knack for finding trails. Without her, he might be stuck in the woods. He felt a little twinge of guilt for how he had been behaving toward her. Although he knew that he might never see her again after this, he took comfort in the knowledge that their final day together would be a good one.
"How did you get so good at tracking?" he asked as Yvonne led him through the brush.
"It seemed like a useful skill," she answered. Then she paused and looked over her shoulder. "I thought you hated me."
Alex shrugged. "Hate is a complicated word," he said. "I'm… conflicted."
Yvonne nodded. "I'm… conflicted… too."
They continued walking, not saying anything. It was a beautiful day, and something about it made Alex feel nervous. She reached into his pocket and pulled out his grandfather's handkerchief. The small square of white cloth, with his family crest and the letter "J", seemed to weigh a lot more than it should have. He rubbed it between his fingers, feeling the soft silk and the bumpy edges of the embroidery.
"What is that?" Yvonne asked, sidling up to him. "Looks fancy, like somebody spent a lot of money to have it branded specifically to them. Who would do such a thing?"
Alex looked at her. "It's my grandfather's. He tried to kill me."
Yvonne let the conversation drop, and Alex was again thankful. Any of the others might try to press him for more information, even Debbie.
They said nothing more as they followed the last of the trail. The trees opened up into a small clearing. In the middle stood a metal shack.
They went up to it. A warning sign hung on the metal door. It read: "CONDEMNED."
"From the sheen of that sign," Alex said, "I'd say that it's brand new. Somebody hung it up as a deterrent."
"But who?" Yvonne asked.
In answer to her question, Alex knelt down, brushing away a small patch of other growth. On the foundation of the metal shack, there was a sweeping set of initials, "JA." Lincoln Ambrose had a hand in a lot of mysterious and strange operations. Some of them are related to building underground. Others related to the steel trade.
Alex stood up and gave the door a gentle push. It swung open on creaky hinges. Alex sighed with dismay.
"That was too easy," Yvonne said from behind him. "Who would just leave a door open like that?" Especially if they're trying to hide."
Alex gritted his teeth. "He wants us to find him."
Yvonne looked at him with surprise.
"I don't know why," Alex continued, looking down at her. "He's always been erratic. Things that make sense to him don't make sense to anybody else."
"I see," Yvonne said, casting her eyes away from Alex. She was looking down the rickety metal staircase which led into darkness. "Shall we?"
Alex nodded solemnly, and together they descended the metal stairs, into the darkness.
A short while later, they began to see light. It came from an open doorway, leading into what had to be an underground bunker.
"This is creepy," Yvonne whispered. The bunker was quiet, almost absorbing noise.
Alex didn't say anything. He just kept walking. The light grew brighter, and eventually turned into a doorway. The door sood ajar, letting through a pale fluorescent light.
They reached the ground, carefully stepping off the stairs in case something was there to trap them. Something was off about this entire situation.
"Brace yourself," he whispered to Yvonne. "We might need to fight our way out."
Yvonne nodded, and together they approached the door. Alex kicked it open, revealing a massive room lit by a single lightbulb that hung from the ceiling. Nobody jumped out at them. The walls were paneled with sheets of corrugated metal.
If Alex knew his grandfather, this would be just one level. An entry level, and subsequent levels would be increasingly high tech. At the back of his entrance room, there was another door. They looked at each other and nodded.
They walked through. Alex spun around a couple of times, responding to strange noises in the background.
"This place gives me the creeps," Yvonne said as they approached the door. "What was he thinking when he built this?"
"Probably that he needed somewhere safe," Alex said, "somewhere to lie low nearby, and somewhere that would creep out the average person."
"That makes sense," Yvonne said, nudging the door open. They walked through, and found a hallway that split in two directions. Down the right end, there was silence, down the left, they could hear something. It sounded like a television. In front of them was a doorway marked "FIRE EXIT."
"We go left," said Alex.
Yvonne didn't question him. They followed the sound of the television. As they got closer, it grew louder, and Alex began picking up some of the words. He also recognized some of their voices. He froze, and Yvonne crashed into him from behind.
"Hey!" she snapped, but Alex shushed her.
He turned around and hissed, "Somebody is watching Relaxing Renovations!"
Yvonne went pale. "Oh my god."
"I can't make it out," he said, talking in a whisper, "but I think it's our episode. Whoever is in there is probably studying us!"
Yvonne made a high-pitched whining sound and covered her mouth with her hands. Not wanting to waste time, Alex grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the door. They walked at a brisk pace, the television sounds growing louder and louder until they burst through an open doorway.
A living room opened out before them. It was full of plants, paintings, a nice television showing Ken Stokes doing his renovation, and on the sofa sat a familiar face. One that Alex was incredibly glad to see.
"Christopher!" he said excitedly. He turned to Yvonne and said, "Go find Debbie. She must be down the other side of the hallway!" With that, Yvonne scurried off to find Debbie, leaving Alex and Christopher alone.
Christopher shot to his feet and grabbed a nearby lamp to use as a weapon.
"Whoa!" Alex said.
"Get away from me!" Christopher swung the lamp and leapt at Alex. Alex grabbed Christopher's arm and pushed it away. He squeezed a pressure point on Christopher's wrist, forcing him to let go of the lamp. It crashed to the floor in a spray of glass and ceramic.
"Let go of me!" Christopher demanded. "I know who you are! You're a bad person!" Christopher pulled himself out of Alex's hold and backed away several steps, holding himself in a defensive position.
"Christopher!" he said. "What the hell got into you?"
Christopher narrowed his eyes at Alex. "You know my name. How do you know my name?"
Before Alex could respond, he heard Yvonne screaming.
"Alex!" Yvonne screamed. "ALEX! WHERE ARE YOU? HURRY!"
Alex followed the sound of her terrified voice as she screamed his name. He ran out of the living room and down the other end of the hallway. He followed the screaming down a flight of stairs, and into a network of hallways lit along the ceiling. The hallways in the bunker all looked the same, making it difficult to find her. They bumped into each other running along one of them. Alex took her firmly by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"Are you okay?" he demanded. "Yvonne, what-"
"I found Debbie!" she said breathlessly. "She's in rough shape. Quick!"
He followed Yvonne all the way to a hallway lined with identical doors. One of them stood open, showing a small studio apartment. Debbie lay curled up on the sofa, holding her knees to her chest. She lifted her head slightly when Alex and Yvonne approached. Her big beautiful eyes were sad and wet with tears. She lit up a little when she saw him, and allowed him to bring her into his arms, but there was something amiss.
Just thankful to have her back, Alex looked up at Yvonne and told her, "Go to Chris. He needs you."
******
Mark had been the one to suggest leaving Christopher where he could be found. No doubt Alex and that Yvonne girl would come knocking soon enough. Regardless, Mark couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He was damn good at what he did, but as he followed Lincoln into the levels beneath the bunker, he began to question his motives.
They came to a stop in front of a massive set of steel doors. A control panel was set into the wall beside it. Lincoln punched in some numbers and the doors hissed open.
"We're just going to leave them?" Mark asked, concerned.
"They'll find their way out," said Lincoln. "One way or another."
"But what about your plan?" Mark pressed. "Your big master plan to have all of them under one roof and trap them?"
Lincoln turned around, the light from the tunnel added menacing shadows to his face.
"My plan," he said slowly, "is working perfectly."
Mark wasn't so sure. If he were planning everything that Lincoln was going to do, he would get his targets out of the way as soon as possible. Of course, he didn't say anything.
Kylie joined them a moment later. Her fake bump had been dislodged, and her hair and clothes were disheveled. Mark's eyes widened when he saw her.
"Your grandson's girl can throw a kick," Kylie said to Lincoln. "I had to get out before she killed me."
Lincoln looked at her with disapproval. "Always an excuse." He looked at them each in turn. "Come on," he ordered. "Let them sort themselves out. We have plans to make."