Chapter Twenty-Two

	"Jade?"
	"Joan? Are you okay?"
	"Other than two bullet holes and three broken fingers, I've never been
better. And you?"
	"I think I'll believe you know, about the sinister things."
	"Great. So, how are you?"
	"About the same, one bullet hole, in my left arm, which is broken in two
places,"she held up a heavy looking cast.
	"Fun. So, wanna bust out with me?"
	"Sure. How do you think we're going to manage that?"
	"I don't know, but if you try to pull me through the shattered window of
another twisted wreckage I'm never going to speak to you again."
	"If you ever put me in the situation that I have to pull you through the
shattered window of a twisted wreckage I'll never speak to you again. Besides, I
don't think we have enough luck left to try anything like that."
	"This agony is the result of luck?"
	"Maybe it was bad luck. It's better than being dead."
	"I'm beginning to wonder."
	Jade shook her head.
	"By the way, Maria is waiting in a cab for us. We have to get out now."
	"The window won't work and Hurst is more loyal to Dot's orders than
mine. If Judy or Mike is standing out there, though, we might be able to get out."
	"Look."
	Joan cracked the door and saw Hurst there, but luckily, he was talking to
Judy Fooks and Mike Ward. Mike glanced at the door and saw Joan, but didn't
alert Gene or Judy. She motioned for him to get Gene and Judy away. He nodded.
	"Hey Jude, wanna take Gene down and get some coffee, I'll buy."
	Judy nodded, smiling,"Sure. Come on Gene."
	"I'm not to leave the post."
	"Don't worry about it, I'm here, and from what I hear that girl isn't going
anywhere anytime soon." 
	Reluctantly, Gene followed Judy, taking Mike's precious last two dollars.
When they were out of sight he rushed to the door.
	"Joan, how did you get in there?"
	"Don't worry about that now, just help us sneak out."
	"How?"
	"They'll be gone for a few minutes. Just get Jade & I to the elevator and we
can do the rest."
	"I could get fired."
	"You don't like being a cop anyway. Just think, it's the perfect way to start
your own detecting service. Hell Mike, looks like I'll be needing a job soon, too.
We'll be partners and if you're nice, I'll pay for the first six months rent out of my
own pocket."
	His eyes lit up,"You've got it."
	Mike was much better looking than Gary, Joan's ex, and younger, and
smarter, and probably all around better. Sweet Mike,  she thought as he helped
Jade out of bed, I hope I am still around to open that office with you.
	Mike shielded them down to the elevator and wished them luck.
	"Joan, when this is all over, give me a call. Whether or not we become
private eyes, at least we can have dinner."
	"That's sweet, Mike. I will."
	She pecked him on the cheek and pressed the button for the basement. Jade
fell against the tiny seat, moaning.
	"Home free,"she whispered, trying to keep herself from crying.  They made
their way slowly out into the parking lot and looked for a cab. Near the entrance to
the garage was a green cab with its motor running. Maria's face was pressed up
against the window, but she didn't see them approaching. She was obviously busy
with whatever was going on  inside the cab.  Jade reached for the door, Joan
stopped her. There were too many face in the steamed window. At least three
other than Maria were struggling in there. One of them would be Cortez, the other
would be the cab driver, but who was the third?
	"No, let's go."
	"But what if something's wrong?"
	"She'll save herself, we wouldn't do anything but get ourselves into
trouble."
	She dragged Jade to a pay phone and called her father's house. No one
answered. Then she ordered a cab, finally she put in a call to 911 and requested the
police. They'd been waiting five minutes when a body was thrown from the cab,
and it roared away.
	"Maria,"Jade whispered, kneeling next to her cousin. Maria had been
beaten badly, Joan recognized the obvious signs of shock. Their cab arrived
minutes later, followed directly by the police, who alerted the hospital. As they
drove away, the medics loaded Maria onto a stretcher and rushed her up to the
hospital. The cabby took the opportunity to cut in front of a speeding car, and they
left the hospital, again.
	"I pray to God Cortez is alright,"Jade said,"I'll never forgive myself if he's
in trouble."
	Joan leaned back and told Jade not to worry.
	"Don't worry? Bryan and Helen are missing, Cortez was just taken away
and Maria is back in the hospital! Alex, I wonder where he is?"

Chapter Twenty-Three

	Marsha paced the room restlessly. She hadn't heard from any of the kids in
hours. Especially Nina, was she worried about, the poor girl-
	"Marsha!"
	Nina threw open the door and gasped."Nina, are you all right, dear? What
happened to you?"
	"Mark happened to me,"she swore, storming into the house,"He forgot to
spring me from the asylum. I had to break myself out."
	"I'm so sorry, but boys will be boys,"she cluckd her tongue,"You'll have to
learn to excuse that quality in men. They are all untrustworthy! Speaking of men, I
must set you up with someone. I was considering Carl. He's neither as big, nor as
strong as either Mark or Martin, but he's a good worker, smart, and though he
isn't-"
	"I need a doctor,"she plopped down on the couch.
	"Get off that couch, you'll stain it!"Marsha hissed. Nina stood and stripped
off her torn and bloodied jeans. Marsha was audibly shocked to see the long, deep
gash that disfigured her left leg and a blood soaked rag that appeared to cover a
nasty wound of some sort. She reached over and picked up the phone. A few
hushed minutes later she hung up,"Neil's on his way. He's the only doctor in
Weston we can trust. Go up to the attic and wait."
	"Find out where Mark and Martin are. Get Mae here too." Nina smiled,
then it turned to a frown,"I heard about Naomi. I always told her not to dance in
the shower, I always knew she'd hurt herself one day. I never meant for this to
happen." She manufactured believable tears. Marsha put her arm delicately around
Nina's shoulder.
	"I know dear, none of us did, and she was our friend. But, in all of our lives
we have to realize that people die. I think Naomi was happy to die young, she
always told us that she wanted to pretty all of her life, and she was. Until she
slipped and smashed her head on the floor of the shower. I suspect she looked
pretty gruesome after that- Oh, I oughtn't talk about such things. I'm sorry, I know
you two were close."
	Nina headed up the stairs, still crying. Marsha honestly believed that she
had cared about the whore. It was enough to make Nina think she ought to be
nominated for an Oscar, not Sharon Stone.
	Ten minutes later Marsha answered the knock on the door. On her front
step was Dr. Neils Virlsown. He followed her silently up the stairs into the attic
where Nina lay half-naked and passed out on a raggedy old couch. He began
fumbling with the bandage she'd knotted over her wound.
	"This will cost you Marsha."

	Marsha dialed Mae's number. No one answered. It worried her that her
niece didn't answer. Mae was always home. She tried Mark, then Martin, neither of
her nephews were at home.  
	It was unusual for Marsha to be put off by anyone, especially one of her
own. Naomi, had been a big loss, one of the orphaned daughters of her husband's
sister, Marsha had always been close to both Mae and Naomi. She'd arranged their
marriages to her sister's orphaned twin's so she'd always have them all together,
that and the fact that she didn't want any of them to suffer as their parents had.
	Marsha was concerned about Nina the most, though. She had been adopted
by Marsha and her husband at the age of fifteen, along with another boy, Carl,
because Marsha's house felt empty, even with four teenagers already living there.
The main problem had been her family before the orphanage,  she'd always been
neglected. Now Mark had neglected her, and Marsha felt awfully about it, but
what could she do. He'd obviously been occupied with a problem that Martin had
been experiencing, one that neither of them would discuss with her. She felt left
out and it incensed her.
	"She's finished."
	"Oh dear!"
	"I mean, I'm done treating her."
	"Good. I was so concerned about her. Is she all right?"
	"Actually-
	"Marsha!" Nina called angrily, from the top of the stairs.
	"What is it Nina?"
	"Where are they?"
	"Who?"
	"You know who."
	"They were not home when I called."
	Nina cursed and slammed the door.
	"She's got an attitude."
	"So do you Neils, goodbye,"she shut the door sharply and ran up the stairs.
	"Nina, where do you think I could find them?"
	"I don't know, just do it."
	"I will not leave this house with all of my children running around,
missing."
	"Fine, I'll go. But chances are, you're signing my death certificate right
now."
	Marsha smiled bitterly,"Oh well."

Chapter Twenty-Four

	Martin was sitting on Jade's front steps when the cab dropped Joan and
Jade off.
	"Martin?"
	His mouth dropped open. His eyes softened, but he looked incredibly sad.
	"This is all my fault."
	"What is?"
	"The entire thing."
	"What?"
	"I should have told you everything I knew. You should have known."
	"What?!"
	"There's nothing we can do now, too many-"
	Joan smacked him.
	"What in the name of God are you rattling about?"
	Jade opened the door and led him into the kitchen.They sat around the
table, Martin sat directly across from Joan and Jade. He looked everywhere but at
them, scared or nervous, but defiantly upset.
	"What have you done?"
	"Me, personally? I've done nothing. But I knew all about it, everything
could have been prevented if only-"
	"Martin! Do you know what's going on?"
	"Pretty much. I didn't know, exactly, until an hour or so ago, but I've
always suspected that there had to be reason, and now-"
	"A reason for what?"
	"For these attacks."
	"Who is doing it?"Joan pressed.
	"It's a long story."
	"Tell us."
	"No."
	Joan was an impatient person lately. She stood up and paced the kitchen.
Martin refused to elaborate. Jade began to get as agitated as Joan was.
	"Martin! Tell me, what do you know about my family dying? What? I'm
going insane and you're letting it happen! You tell me you care for me but then you
push me off the edge!" Joan winced at this, she hadn't told Jade all of the story,
just the highlights. She had left out the parts about how and when it had happened,
and who told her, she was afraid the cabby might have big ears and a bigger
mouth.
	"I can't,"Martin was torn. He wanted to get this off his chest, so the
unbearable guilt would leave him able to breathe freely again, but the fact that he'd
been involved would hurt Jade and if wouldn't be a good thing for their
relationship. Relationship? We've known each other only a few days! Yeah, that
constitutes a relationship all right. As long as we're practically engaged I might as
well tell her that I love her, see how that one effects her. "I love you,"he blurted,"I
love you Jade, and if I tell you, you'll hate me."
	She smiled, her eyes filling with happiness.
	"I could never hate you."
	"Okay."
	Joan intervened,"Start at the beginning." She sat back down, across from
him. Jade had moved next to him and was holding his trembling hand.
	 "Mark and I were born to a really poor family. We didn't know anyone
outside of our own block, except the few kids who would talk to us at school.
Then Mom and Dad died in a car accident with our two sisters and our brother,
when Mark & I were seven. We were left with nothing. They didn't have a will,
just a locked box. Mark opened it, but the only things in there were the birth
certificates of us and our siblings, along with several pictures. In the very bottom
of the box was a scrap of paper with a name and phone number on it. We called
the number, it was our aunt's phone number. We didn't even know she existed. She
was rich, so she took us in.
	"She and her husband put us in a private school, gave us all sorts of
fighting lessons, things like that. After awhile Marsha seemed to get even more
obsessed with getting us ready. We didn't know what for, but she made us
workout a lot, and practice more and more. Then Naomi and Mae's foster parent's
asked Marsha to take them in. They were Marsha's nieces, and she accepted, and
began putting them through a different, though similar training regiment. Then she
adopted Carl and Nina, they too went right to work training. Carl had had a soft
life, he'd never even hit another person, but Nina was already trained in fighting.
She had lived almost her entire life on the streets or in correctional institutes, but
she was glad Marsha chose her, she was glad to get out hone her skills."
	"Why?"
	Martin ignored the interruption,"We were living high, it was great. When
we turned seventeen Marsha took all six of us out to the shooting range. I'm a
better shot than Mark, but I don't really like to shoot, he loves it. Not long after
that Marsha paired Mae and I and Mark and Naomi off, told us that when we
turned eighteen we would become engaged and at twenty we would marry. We
didn't mind, she'd conditioned us to do as she said, no matter what. Then, about
two weeks ago Mark and I went for a drive with Marsha. Naomi and Mae were
planning to meet us somewhere, they were driving a big green van. Our vehicle
belonged to Roger, it was a late model Dodge Caravan."
	"White?"Joan asked.
	Martin nodded,"Mark and the girls knew exactly what was going on, but
Marsha didn't trust me, she thinks I'm soft. But is that so bad a quality?"
	"No,"Jade whispered, caressing his hand. Martin pulled away, burying his
head in his hands.
	"It was awful. We came onto the scene just in time to Naomi and Mae
speeding off.  Marsha got out of the van gave this digusting speech about what a
mess it would be if any of the cars blew up. That got people moving, they all left
the scene as quickly as possible. Mark and I tried to open the doors, I'm sure I was
working at it harder than he was, and I almost got the boy's door open. Almost,
God, I was so close. I could have saved him...Then Marsha looked around, and
under the car, she had something in her hands, but I didn't notice it until I saw her
bend down and come up without it. She dragged the two of us away from the car,
apologizing to those trapped inside the vehicles. She said that the car was about to
explode. Then it did, the Mercedes blew up, taking at least two other cars with it. I
was horrified because here was the woman I had trusted, loved like a mother, and
she'd just blown up five people. Mark was laughing too, I joined in, only because I
didn't want them to turn on me. I knew what they could do, I think they wanted it
that way."
	"Oh Martin,"Jade wiped tears away. They weren't for him, and the ordeal
he'd suffered, but for the finality of finding out exactly what had happened to her
father and brother.
	"There's more. Roger told Marsha that he wanted to take me on a fishing
trip. I had told him in secrecy about what she'd done, and he decided that we could
make a getaway. She agreed, but a few hours later he left for the sports store, he
hasn't returned yet. Nina, what she did is worse than all of that. She's naturally a
blonde, but for three days she masqueraded around with black hair.
	"She gave your mother a drug, I can't even remember what its called, but
she injected it and then she slit her wrists."
	"I don't believe this,"Joan muttered. Jade shook her head, not
comprehending waht she was hearing.
	"Neither do I. Mark shot Delores, but he was probably aiming for you, he
missed. He isn't that accurate, not like me. He'll tell you he was aiming for her, but
I know. When Nina was grabbed, that was supposed to be either you or Maria, but
Mark and Carl kidnapped Nina, just to give you guys a good scare, and, if they
were lucky, kill you in the process. Nina killed Naomi, but Mark made it look like
she fell in the shower. He's good at covering up things like that. Carl owns a cab, it
was he and Mae who attacked Maria and Cortez today. I don't know where they
took him."
	"What about Bryan and Helen?"
	"I don't know."
	Joan spoke up,"Was Julia involved with Marsha?"
	"Who?"
	"My sister, she was friend of Naomi, Mae and Nina."
	"I don't know. I don't know why all of this is going on, but if it gets out I'm
going to jail until Hell freezes over because Mark sure isn't going to testify in my
favor. If he goes down, he'll take me, and as many others as possible, with him."
	"Joan knows why."
	"Does she know that Marsha isn't really Marsha Dunkirk? Roger told me
some of the truth, as I helped him pack. His real name is Keith, and they have a
son near here, he lives with his grandmother now. He told me to stay away from
the boy, because Marsha had been a bad influence on him."
	"A bad influence?"Joan snorted.
	"I know who he is."
	"Eighteen, curly red hair?"
	"Alex."
	Conversation dropped off. Jade lay her head in her arms as they rested on
the table, Joan was debating whether or not to make a phone call and Martin was
staring out of the window. Martin's eyes grew wide and he scooted his chair away
from the table. 
	"What?"Joan asked, following his gaze. 
	"I have to go to the bathroom, excuse me,"he left the room quickly.
	"Martin!" Jade called, she turned to look out the window.
	"What made him leave like that?"
	"I don't know."
	There was a loud crash in the garage. Joan and Jade caught each other's
gaze and they ran for the garage.
	"Martin?"Jade asked, opening the door. He slid in, not allowing her to turn
on the light, and shut the door tightly behind them.
	"We've got to get out of here. This is the first place they'll look for you."
	Joan winced, the pain she'd forgotten came screaming back into her nerves.
	"I can't leave, not with everything so uncertain!" He grabbed her hand and
pulled her toward the kitchen.
	"You'll die if you stay here Jade." She wrenched away and stared at him.
"You ought to have died already." He pulled a gun out of his coat,"And I won't
miss this time."
	"Martin?"
	"Guess again sweet thang. Get up stairs,"he held his gun leveled at them
and Joan began to wish that she'd never entered the Academy.
	Mark reached back and pulled open the garage door, never taking his eyes
off them. Carl dragged an unconscious Martin out. Mark motioned with his gun to
the stairs and obedienantly, Jade and Joan began the painful journey upstairs. Jade
glanced back, Martin was bleeding from a gash on his forehead, and Carl was
allowing it to dribble onto the carpet. They eventually made it to the attic, which
was a large open room just under the roof that held virtually nothing but a few
moving boxes, two old couches, and a broken rocking chair.
	Joan was shocked to see Nina and Mae standing on the balcony, talking
casually.
	"We're going to have a little party,"Mae sing-songed,"And you're even
dressed for it Joanie." Joan glanced down at the torn gown she'd borrowed from
the hospital girl. It seemed to bring bad luck to it's wearers.
	"What- Where- Why?" Joan sputtered, not knowing where to begin, but
wanting to stall, nonetheless.
	"Where is Alex?"Jade demanded.
	"Who, me?" Alex stepped into the room, making his famous grand entrace.
Mae and Carl had their guns drawn, but Jade hadn't seen it. Nina strode to Alex
and kissed him full on the lips. They were locked in an embrace for what seemed
like minutes. When they finally came up for air, Nina led Jade and Joan to the other
side of the room and she too found a gun, a rifle, exactly like the ones Carl held,
Mae had a shiny new revolver; all three were cocked and ready.
	"Mother is on her way, she doesn't want to miss this,"Alex grinned, his
sickly yellow sick glowing like the sun on a cloudless summer afternoon,"And
neither do you, Miss Mackenna. Trust me."
	Jade still didn't understand. Her best friend was aiming a gun at her head.
Her best friend was laughing as he fingered the trigger.
	"This is a fine weapon, and I'd love to shoot you with it, but I can't. I
haven't had any practice, but Mark has, so once mother gets here, he will do the
honors. Besides, mother told-"
	"Your mother is witch from Hell!"
	"So? Your mother was a poor slut. Mostly a slut though."
	"Alex, what did I ever do?"
	"What, you have to ask? Oh Miss Mackenna, I seriously doubt that whore
like you deserves an explanation. You just deserve to die."
	"Come on, remember how we always used to read Nancy Drew books,
when we were younger. Why don't you do what the criminals did tell everything
while you give the heroine time to plan her escape."  
	"Caroline Keene's bad guys were never as smart as I am. They got caught."
	"And you don't plan to get caught?"Jade snorted.
	"No, I don't. Do you know why? Because I, am Alexander Claiborne!"
	"That is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard. Even you ought to be
able to come up with a better line than that."
	"And what would you're response be, little girl?"
	"I wouldn't say that-"
	Jade's sentance was cut off as gun fired.