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Post by Jordanna on Apr 19, 2006 21:56:13 GMT -5
It was too early in the morning to be thinking about unhappy tasks.
Nevertheless, Miriam was awake, staring out the window into Henry's still-darkened backyard and contemplating her farewell with her parents. Daws would be arriving any time now with the forged passports and paperwork she'd had made, and then it would be Henry's job to take the elder Van Lindens to the airport.
The problem was, her parents didn't know that yet.
Miriam had waited to tell them because she knew they would argue, wanting to stand by her and join her fight. Even now, she wasn't sure how she would convince them to go. It wasn't just for their safety; with Tiernan and now the police searching for them too, they would be as unable to live normal lives here as she was, and she didn't want her friends to have two more refugees on their hands. In England, her parents could start over... at least until Tiernan was dead or gone, and they might be able to come home.
A soft rustling sound behind her alerted Miriam to Henry's approach, and she turned her head to glance at him, without speaking. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently.
"How are you going to tell them?" he asked quietly.
Miriam shook her head. "I don't know."
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Post by skybright on Apr 19, 2006 22:10:27 GMT -5
Daws strode up the darkened block to Henry Casselton's house, the quiet suburb neighborhood still darkened and silent around her. In the inner pocket of her trenchcoat she had a pair of forged passports, complete with visas and temporary residence papers for the VanLindens. Jai had worked overtime on the forgeries, and Daws had also called in a favor with another contact of hers -- a top-rate forger who'd gone straight several years earlier -- to make sure that the paperwork would pass inspection.
She loped up Henry's front steps and knocked on the door.
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 19, 2006 22:23:09 GMT -5
When they heard the knock at the living room door, Miriam flinched as if with a physical pain.
Henry squeezed her shoulder. "I'll let Daws in. I suppose... you'd better wake your parents up, and try to get them ready."
Miriam nodded solemnly and disappeared into the hall. Henry sighed and went to the living room, glancing out the front window before he opened the door for Daws.
"Hello, Miss Dawson." He smiled ruefully. "I wish I could say it's good to see you in this case. Miriam's just gone to wake her parents. They don't know yet."
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Post by skybright on Apr 19, 2006 22:45:11 GMT -5
Daws frowned and removed her fedora, sighing and shaking her head. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If I were in her shoes, I don't guess I'd have told them yet, either."
She fished the forged papers out of her coat and glanced through them. "Must be one of the hardest things in the world -- sending your family away."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 19, 2006 23:00:22 GMT -5
Miriam came down the hall, herding her parents, who clearly looked as if they had just been awakened and hurriedly dressed.
"I don't understand," Irene was protesting wearily. "Where are we going?"
"I'm not going anywhere," Miriam replied quietly. "But the two of you are getting on a plane, and going to England."
"What?" Tom said incredulously.
"You heard me. You're going where you'll be safe, and you can go on living something like a normal life. Miss Dawson has all the paperwork you'll need. Tiernan won't find you there."
"You're asking us to just leave you alone in the middle of all this?" Irene exclaimed.
"I'm not alone." Miriam smiled sadly at Henry and Daws, then shook her head. "But you can't help me with what I've got to do, and I can't do it unless I know you're both safe. Please."
"Miriam, I can't believe you're even asking us this." Tom glanced at Daws. "Will you talk some sense into our girl? You know you need all the help you can get in this fight of yours."
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Post by skybright on Apr 19, 2006 23:09:15 GMT -5
Daws chuckled wryly and shook her head. "Sir, if I had any luck at talkin' sense into your girl, she'd be in England right now."
She spread her hands and added, as gently as possible "You're right in saying that we need all the help we can get, Mister Van Linden: but at present we're already sheltering one fugitive from Nicholas Tiernan, and it's all we've been able to do to keep her out of harm's way. Trying to keep the two of you safe here and fight Tiernan at the same time is just more than our little group can handle.
"The best help you can be to us now is to get on that plane. Knowing that the two of you are out of harm's way will help all of us out." She glanced at Miriam and added,
"You two raised a fine daughter, Mister Van Linden. But there's a time when you've gotta let your children fight their own battles."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 19, 2006 23:31:20 GMT -5
Tom set his jaw, looking as if he was about to protest; then he looked at Miriam, who returned an immovably firm and level gaze. He sighed and shook his head, moving his shoulders in what was not quite a shrug.
"The least you can do is let us help financially, after we get settled down over there," he said quietly.
Irene gaped. "Tom, you don't mean--"
"We're all confused here, honey," Tom replied, putting his arms around his wife. "We need time to think all this out. Now, we can go over to England and get set up again, and figure out a way to really do something constructive in this fight--or we can stay here, arguing with Miriam and using up her friends' resources and patience, without being able to do anything in return."
As those words sank in, Irene's gaze fell defeatedly. She turned to Miriam, with an expression that couldn't help looking somewhat hurt. "That's the way it is?"
Miriam nodded resolutely. "That's the way it is."
Her eyes beginning to well up, Irene hugged her daughter tightly. "Then take care of yourself... be careful."
As Miriam's parents were exchanging their emotional farewells with their daughter, Henry turned to Daws. "I've been thinking. I've an old bank account in England that I still use every now and then, when I go back. Perhaps your friend the forger can arrange for the Van Lindens to have access to it. That'll give them something to live on until they can get settled."
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Post by skybright on Apr 20, 2006 15:14:42 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. If you write down the account information, I can have Jai put the Van Lindens on the account tonight."
Then she lowered her voice and added "Nicholas Tiernan doesn't know it," she tapped her finger against an unmarked envelop mixed in with the other paperwork, "But he made a pretty substantial cash donation to the Van Linden Travel Fund, too." She grinned slyly and added "Gotta love the irony of Tiernan funding the resistance movement against him."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 20, 2006 19:17:05 GMT -5
Henry smiled. "That's absolutely brilliant."
Finding a scrap of paper and a pen, he quickly scrawled down the numbers for his English bank account, and handed it to Daws. "I've already made a copy of this for the Van Lindens. I'll give it to them at the airport, when they don't have time to refuse it."
Behind them, the goodbyes had been said; now Miriam retreated quickly in the direction of the study, wiping her eyes and not looking back. Irene was also tearful, while Tom was solemn and stiff-lipped.
"We're ready," he said quietly.
As he fished his car keys out of his pocket, Henry turned back to Daws. "If you care to come along, I can take you back to your office after I've seen our friends off."
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Post by skybright on Apr 20, 2006 21:54:41 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Sounds good." She lowered her voice to a murmur and patted the revolver she wore concealed beneath her coat. "If anythin' should happen, it wouldn't hurt for you all to have a fighter along for the ride."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 20, 2006 22:16:46 GMT -5
Henry nodded grimly, then ushered his departing guests out the door, with one last unhappy glance over his shoulder as he thought of Miriam being alone.
There was little conversation on the way to the airport. Upon arriving, Henry escorted the Van Lindens to the correct terminal. Daws remained present, but at a distance, to avoid any chance of connection with them... just in case. They had no trouble with security; apparently Jai's forgery had been a success.
"Take care of our girl," Tom admonished Henry earnestly, as the Van Lindens waited to board the plane.
"I will--and so will the rest of our friends." Henry took from his pocket the slip of paper containing his English banking information. "Take this. It's the number to a bank account I have in England. It'll help you until you're settled." He waved away their attempts to protest. "We can discuss repayment some other time."
"Thank you," Irene said softly, squeezing Henry's hands.
"No thanks is needed. Just take care of yourselves." Henry smiled ruefully. "Go on now."
Reluctantly, the Van Lindens turned and headed for the plane. Henry watched them until he was sure they were safely on their way, then crossed the crowded terminal and rejoined Daws, who was observing unobtrusively.
"That's done, at least," Henry said wearily.
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Post by skybright on Apr 21, 2006 19:07:27 GMT -5
Daws nodded in agreement. "I know I'll sleep a lot easier knowin' they're out of harm's way -- I'm sure the same goes for the Doc." She snuck a glance at the seemingly diffident security guards nearby and murmured "We'd best be on our way. Explaining a firearm to those guys isn't on my list of good ideas for the morning."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 21, 2006 20:13:20 GMT -5
The pair navigated their way out of the airport and back to Henry's car. After asking some rough directions from Daws, he set them on a course for her office.
"Malone will be coming to pick up Miriam after he's finished at the Paragon Club tonight," Henry admitted. "I don't like to let her out of my care, but it's true that my work takes up too much of my time. She has more to occupy her mind at Mr. Rosenstein's house--and I think she'll need that more than ever now."
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Post by skybright on Apr 21, 2006 23:48:19 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "The Doc's lucky to have had a friend like you through all of this." She glanced sideways at Henry and added quietly "You care about her very much, don'tcha?"
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 22, 2006 6:48:51 GMT -5
Henry hesitated before replying, in a slightly rough voice, and without looking at Daws.
"Perhaps... more than I should."
At last he glanced over at Daws. "I don't have any illusions about that... and not only because I'm too old. My life is devoted to the very thing that hurts Miriam most: the dead. She needs someone who can give her life and youth."
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Post by skybright on Apr 23, 2006 0:44:53 GMT -5
Daws raised an eyebrow and took a long moment before replying. "My partner always used to say 'You ain't too old until you're dead'."
She shook her head and glanced quickly out the window. "I'm sorry -- It's none of my business. I guess I've just gotten used to stickin' my nose where it doesn't belong."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 23, 2006 8:48:25 GMT -5
"It's alright," Henry replied demurely. "Only please don't let on to Miriam about what I've said. She thinks of me as a father figure, and I don't want to put her through any more upset."
They drove in silence for a few minutes, and then Henry asked, "What do you suppose is to be done next? In the fight against Tiernan, I mean. We've been on the defensive so far. How can we take action ourselves?"
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Post by skybright on Apr 23, 2006 21:57:50 GMT -5
Daws studied her claws. "Well, I talked to the Padre on Saturday -- he says Jakob's printed up some sort of handbills, and he's organized a group of folks to put them up anonymously. How much that'll help, I dunno -- but it's a start."
She looked up and continued "I'm gonna keep my ears open at Tiernan's place, see if I can pick up any information on specific parts of his operation that might be especially vulnerable to a little . . . intervention on our part. If we know where Tiernan's weak, we'll know where to hit him."
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Post by Jordanna on Apr 23, 2006 22:14:33 GMT -5
Henry nodded. "For my part, I've kept up a discreet line of inquiry with the contacts I still have at the medical examiner's office. If any... victims of Tiernan turn up, there's a chance I can learn something about it, even if my mortuary isn't asked to make the arrangements for them."
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Post by skybright on Apr 23, 2006 22:18:31 GMT -5
Daws flinched at the thought of anyone else falling victim to Tiernan's particularly nasty brand of murder; but she nodded. "That's a good idea. If Tiernan keeps . . . well, keeps doin' his own dirty work," She shrugged, "Maybe eventually he'll slip up and leave somethin' behind -- besides just bad memories."
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