Naomi

By Thomas Mc

It was late evening as Catherine and Vincent were walking in thepark enjoying their view of the lights on the George WashingtonBridge. The night air was ripe with mystery as they talked aboutKristopher Gentian's painting of the two of them together. Thequestion of its existence had been haunting Catherine for severaldays. The more she investigated the circumstances surrounding thepainting and its creator the more impossible it all became.

Catherine was relating the latest results of her investigation. "Ipulled the original report on Kristopher Gentian's death and as nearas I can tell, the description and pictures both match the person Imet. Either that was really a ghost or Kristopher had an unknownidentical twin brother. It's getting harder to maintain my…"

The sound of screeching tires shattered the quiet and they turnedto see two cars come racing around a corner a few blocks away.Vincent melted back into the shadows as Catherine, after a quickglance in his direction, stepped over against a nearby tree. A tanstation wagon followed by a large dark sedan raced towards them.Catherine saw the muzzle flashes from the passenger window of thesedan as several shots rang out in quick succession. The stationwagon swerved across the road to the left, hit the curb and bouncedback towards the other side clipping the front of the sedan. The darksedan went out of control, jumped the curb and smashed head on into atree about forty feet up the road. The station wagon hit the curb andwas suddenly flipping through the air. Catherine spotted a bundleflying out of the shattered back window as Vincent came sprinting upfrom behind her. He made a prodigious running leap, caught the bundlein mid air and came down landing in a tuck and roll, protecting thebundle he had just caught. The station wagon landed upside down andwith a screech of tearing metal, slid sideways into the tree whereCatherine had been standing just moments earlier. As the wagon hitthe ground she had caught a glimpse of three people inside justbefore diving out of the way. It took a few seconds for Catherine torecover from the shock of such a close call then she scrambled overto the mangled wagon.

The smell of hot oil and antifreeze hit her as she tried to seeinside. From what she could see past the crushed and twisted roof,all three occupants appeared to be dead. Hard as she tried, it wasimpossible for her to reach any of them through the twistedwreckage.

Getting up she ran over to Vincent just as he carefully came backup to his feet. There in his arms was a small crying child wrapped ina blanket. The child had long blond hair, blue grey eyes and appearedto be around four or five years old. In the child's face was a lookof equal parts shock, pain and fear.

Vincent looked up at Catherine. "She is in a great deal ofpain."

Catherine responded. "Get back out of sight. I have to check onthe other car."

Vincent held the child close and began talking to her in his mostsoothing tones as he moved over to the nearby entrance to thetunnels.

Catherine ran up the road and checked on the sedan. The driver hadsmashed his head on the steering wheel. He was unconscious, both hislegs appeared to be broken and his face was badly messed up but hewas still alive. The man on the passenger's side had gone halfwaythrough the front windshield and was completely trapped with his armspinned to his side. He was still conscious and cursing a blue streakas he was struggling to get free. Catherine checked him over as bestas she could. He was bleeding but it didn't appear too serious yet,however his struggling was making it worse.

"It's no big deal to me, but you're already loosing blood."Catherine warned him. "If you continued to struggle like that youwill only make matters a lot worse and bleed to death before thepolice and paramedics can arrive. If you stay still and calm youshould be okay. Oh, I haven't identified myself." Her eyes got verycold as she continued. "I work for the New York District Attorney'sOffice and I will be more than happy to use anything you say againstyou at your murder trial." She then listed his rights just to be surecorrect procedure was followed. He shouted a few threats at her,which she carefully wrote down in her note book. He finally quieteddown once he realized the hopelessness of his situation.

At this point, a car approaching from the other direction stopped.Inside it was a man and a woman. The driver got out and was lookingat the scene like he was trying to decide what to do. Then he calledout. "Do you need help?"

Catherine called out to him. "Yes, my name is Catherine Chandlerwith the New York District Attorney's office." She walked up to himand showed her identification. "I need to see some ID please?" Theman showed her his license. She wrote down his name and address"Thank-you, sir." And handed it back. "I need you to go to thatbuilding up the street and call the police." She gave him one of hercards. "Give them my name and report a shoot out and a fatal carcrash with two seriously injured survivors."

"Yes, mam." He replied. "What then?"

"Then you go on about whatever you were doing." Catherineresponded. "Someone from the police or the DA's office will contactyou later to get your statement."

After they left, Catherine went back to check on the two men. Theywere both still alive and the gunman had quit struggling. Shesearched the sedan and found several guns on the floor of the car butthey were out of reach for the two men so she left them alone. Nextshe ran down to the tunnel entrance where she found Vincent waitingfor her.

The little girl had stopped crying. She looked like she couldn'tdecide whether or not to start crying again and there was even a hintof wonder as she stared up into Vincent's face.

Vincent looked up at Catherine then back down at the little girlhe was holding. "My name is Vincent. What is your name?"

The little girl didn't respond to his question. She just continuedto look back and forth between Catherine and Vincent. She looked likeshe would break into tears at any moment.

Catherine touched the girls shoulder. "My name is Catherine. Won'tyou tell us your name?" She asked plaintively.

The girl still looked frightened but she finally responded."Naomi."

Catherine patted the little girls shoulder to reassure her. "Don'tworry Naomi, Vincent will protect you. No one would dare hurt youwhile you're with him." Catherine looked up at Vincent. "Vincent,you'd better get out of here before the police arrive."

Suddenly Naomi looked around. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

Catherine looked at Naomi's solemn face then took Naomi's hand andreplied. "Don't you worry about your family, honey." The extent ofthe tragedy brought a lump to Catherine's throat and threatened tooverwhelm her but she fought to remain calm for Naomi's sake. "I'lldo every thing I can for them. For now you just go with Vincent.He'll take very good care of you." Then Catherine looked up atVincent. "Take her straight to Father and have him take care of herinjuries." Catherine nodded her head towards the two wrecked cars."I'll deal with the police and take care of this mess."

Naomi looked like she could start crying again at any minute. "Myarm and my leg hurt."

Catherine asked. "How bad do they hurt, Naomi?"

Naomi winced in pain then replied. "My arm hurts some." She lookedfrom Vincent to Catherine then winced again, tears forming at thecorners of her eyes. "My leg hurts real bad."

Vincent looked at Catherine his expression uncertain. "Wouldn'tyou rather take her to the hospital?"

Catherine shook her head. "No. This was a professional hit on anentire family. It will probably be best if you keep Naomi Below withyou where she'll be safe until I can sort this out." She put her handon Vincent's arm. "Tomorrow I'll see what I can find out about thisat work. If anything urgent comes up I'll send you a message,otherwise I'll meet you at the basement access of my buildingtomorrow night right after I get home and tell you what I found out."She gave Naomi's little hand a squeeze and then she gave Vincent ahug. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

As Vincent headed down into the tunnels with Naomi, Catherine ranback up to keep an eye on the two survivors and wait for the policeand paramedics to arrive.

- - - -

After leaving Catherine, Vincent made his way down as quickly ashe could without jarring Naomi's leg too much. As he was runningthrough the tunnels Vincent's empathic sense of Naomi had gottenstronger. He knew how much she was hurting so he kept talking toNaomi to keep her mind off her pain and to sooth her fears.

At one point out of the blue Naomi asked Vincent shyly. "Mister,are you a good monster or a bad monster?"

Vincent stopped running, startled by her question, and looked downat her wide eyed innocent face for a few seconds. The way she hadphrased her question had taken him completely off guard. Then hechuckled as he shook his head. "I guess I'm a good monster. I wouldnever hurt little children. I protect children from others who mightharm them. And you can call me Vincent."

"Okay." She apparently accepted his statement then another stab ofpain shot up her leg bringing tears to her eyes. "My leg hurts."

"I know it does," Vincent replied. "While we're stopped, let'stake a quick look at it."

Vincent set Naomi down on the tunnel floor. Using one claw he cutopen the leg of her pants and examined the injured leg. There was alarge ugly looking bruise but the skin was not broken. Vincentsuspected that there may be a fracture but he couldn't be sure.Turning around, Vincent banged out a quick urgent message on a nearbypipe, alerting Father of his impending arrival with a woundedchild.

Vincent turned and half smiled at Naomi. "It looks like you bangedup your leg but I think it will be okay. I'm taking you to my father.He's a doctor."

Naomi looked up at Vincent, her eyes very solemn. "Is your fathera monster too?"

Vincent picked her up as he replied. "No. My father is normal,just like you."

"Oh." Naomi seemed slightly disappointed by his answer. "I likeyour fur," she stated as she stroked the fur on his neck. "It's softand cuddly like my teddy bear." Then she put her arms around his neckand looked intently at his face as he took off running again. Severaltimes she whimpered in pain. Vincent kept talking to her, telling herthat it wouldn't be much longer.

Shortly after they passed the outer sentry, Naomi asked. "Why'dyou bang on the pipe?"

Glancing down at her, Vincent replied. "I was sending a message toFather to let him know that we are coming."

"Oh." Naomi stated simply then buried her head against Vincent'schest.

- - - -

Back on the surface, the police and rescue units had arrived.Catherine walked up to the police car. "Officer, I'm CatherineChandler of the New York District Attorney's Office and I'm the onewho witnessed this." She handed the police officer her card. "First Ineed to tell you that there are several guns in the sedan. Bothgunmen in the sedan are injured but still alive. I tried to be verycareful not to disturb the scene."

Another car pulled up. A plain clothes detective got out and tookover control of the crime scene. He took her card and her preliminarystatement while a team of paramedics checked the occupants of thestation wagon. Meanwhile the other officers and rescue workers beganthe process of getting the two men out of the wrecked sedan. It wasquickly determined that all the occupants of the wagon were dead. Bythe time the first emergency team got over to the sedan, the driverhad been loaded onto a stretcher and was being rolled over to theambulance. The other man was still trapped in the windshield and hadpassed out but the firemen had almost finished removing the glassaround him.

Catherine spoke again to the detective in charge. "I wouldappreciate it very much if you could get a copy of your preliminaryreport to my desk by this morning, Detective." Catherine knew thather looks and her reputation helped her get things from people andshe didn't hesitate to use them when necessary to get what shewanted.

"I'll do my best, Miss Chandler," responded the detective.

Catherine replied. "That will be great. And thank you."

Just then the coroner's wagon arrived. Catherine hung around forthe next couple of hours to oversee all the activity and make sureall of the evidence was properly preserved. She kept a personal logof every piece of evidence as it was gathered, bagged and labeled.When the cars, bodies and evidence had all been taken away, theofficer, that had been the first to show up, offered Catherine a ridehome. It was very late and she was very tired so she accepted hisoffer.

On the way he asked her. "I just have to ask, how did you end upso far from your home?"

Catherine had been expecting this question and had a ready answer.She shrugged. "Woolgathering while jogging."

The officer chuckled. "Done that once or twice myself." He pulledover and stopped. "Here we are."

She thanked him as she got out and he wished her a good night. Asthe police car pulled away, she looked down at herself and mumbled,"Yea Chandler you always go jogging in your nice clothes. Sweat suitmust be at the cleaners." She shook her head as she entered herbuilding.

After she got to her apartment, Catherine suddenly succumbed to aviolent case of the shakes. She had come within inches of beingcrushed against the tree by that station wagon. Exerting all her willshe slowly got herself under control. She didn't want to disturbVincent with foolish hysterics now. To get her mind off her closecall, Catherine wrote up as accurate of an account of what she hadwitnessed as she could. The only thing she left out was any mentionof Vincent or Naomi. Then she went back over it very carefully to besure she included everything she wanted in and excluded everythingshe wanted left out. After double checking her report and herevidence notes, she finally changed into her nightgown and went tobed. She thought about Vincent and fell asleep with a pleasant warmfeeling.

- - - -

Vincent carried Naomi into the infirmary where Father and Marywere already waiting. "Father, Mary, this is Naomi. She was injuredin a very bad car accident next to the park." As he set her down onthe examining table he gave her his usual half smile that wouldn'tshow his teeth. "Naomi, this is Father and Mary. Father will fix upyour leg."

Vincent kept talking to Naomi in his soothing voice while Fatherexamined her. Father gave Naomi an injection to dull the pain thenworked on her leg placing it in a splint and wrapping it up. As heworked on her he explained what he was doing and why. Next he treatedand bandaged the various cuts, scrapes and bruises she had acquiredin the crash. After he was finished, he patted Naomi on her head."You're going to have to stay off that leg for a while but otherwiseyou're going to be fine." Mary took over amusing Naomi while Vincenttook Father aside to talk to him.

"How is she?" Vincent asked.

"She has a broken tibia, but fortunately it's a clean break andthere was no displacement of the bone. The arm has a bad bruise butthe bone isn't broken. She has several minor scrapes and cuts but nonof them are serious. That pain killer I gave her will help ease heranxiety a little bit and make her sleep tonight." He paused a momentlooking back at Mary and Naomi. "How did this happen?"

Vincent described the events surrounding Naomi's rescue and thedeath of her family.

Father shook his head. "Sometimes I find it incredible that peoplecan be so evil." The look on his face reflected deep sorrow. "Toloose her entire family like that. She seems to be holding up prettywell, considering what she's been through." Then he looked atVincent. "What do you intend to do about her?"

"Catherine thought it would be safer for Naomi to stay Below withus, at least until she can find out who Naomi is and what exactly wasgoing on with those people in the station wagon and the gunmen thatwere chasing them." Vincent looked back at Naomi. "We do not know ifshe has any family left."

Father thought for a minute. "I hate to admit it but she'sprobably right about that. Although, if Catherine finds other familymembers, it may be a little awkward getting Naomi back to them."Jacob glanced over his shoulder towards the Naomi then back atVincent. "I want to keep an eye on those two big bruises and sheshould be okay but she needs to keep off that leg as much aspossible."

Vincent nodded his head. "I'll make sure she stays off it." Hepaused. "Tomorrow night I'm to meet Catherine at her basemententrance so she can tell me what she found out. Then we will have abetter idea what to do about her."

Mary came over carrying Naomi. "Naomi's staying the night withme."

Father looked down at Naomi. "That sounds like a good idea to me."He patted her head. "Tomorrow she can meet some of the other childrenand go to class with Vincent. Would you like that, Naomi?"

Naomi looked up at Father and nodded. "Uh-huh."

Vincent half smiled at Naomi. "May I give you a lift to Mary'schamber?"

"Okay." Naomi replied drowsily.

With that Mary, Vincent and Naomi headed off to Mary'schamber.

* * * * *

Vincent was just dozing off when he was awakened by a feeling ofsudden panic. By the time he had reached his door he could feelCatherine's emotional state being brought under control then he feltchagrin coming from her. Whatever the problem had been, Catherine wasno longer feeling threatened. After Vincent returned to his bed, hedetected another very faint hint of panic. It wasn't coming fromCatherine but he couldn't pinpoint the source, then he heard a childcry out.

* * * * *

All around Naomi, people were running around and yelling. Hermother had tears running down her face as she took clothes out of thedrawers by the handfuls and threw them into a suitcase. Her uncleKyle was yelling to hurry up and her brother was complaining abouthow unfair it was. Then Naomi was bouncing around in the back of thecar and crying for her teddy bear she had left behind. There wereseveral loud noises then there was red everywhere and the whole worldwas whirling around her. She was falling and she cried out for hermother, then suddenly it was dark except for one candle. There was astrange woman holding her, rocking her and telling her it was allright. But Naomi couldn't help herself, she just couldn't stopcrying.

Naomi heard Vincent's mellow soothing voice coming from thedarkness. "Naomi, what's wrong? Are you all right?"

Just hearing that voice made her feel better and she was finallyable to stop crying. "I miss Mommy." She hiccupped.

"It was just a bad dream, dear." Mary softly spoke to her.

"We're here with you." Vincent's voice floated soothingly from thedoorway. "I'm here if you need me."

Mary began to sing a sweet lullaby to Naomi as she rocked her.After a while Naomi fell back to sleep, dreaming of being carriedaround by her favorite teddy bear, grown giant and wearing a lion'sface.

* * * * *

When Catherine got to work the next morning she found that thedetective had made copies of everybody's initial reports and leftthem on her desk (bless him). Catherine made two additional sets ofcopies of those documents along with her initial notes and herwritten statement from last night. One set of copies she locked inher briefcase. One set she put in her desk file drawer. The originalset she took with her to Joe's office. Then she told Joe her censoredversion of the previous night's events. They started a case file withher handwritten statement, her notes and the copies of all thereports the detective had left.

Two hours later three men in suits showed up and went straight toMoreno's office. Ten minutes later Joe was summoned and twentyminutes after that he came back out looking mad enough to chew nails.He went into his office and came right back out carrying the folderthey had just started on the shootout last night. Joe was in Moreno'soffice less than a minute then the three men in the dark suits leftcarrying the folder. From her vantage point Catherine was unable toget a good look at the men. Shortly after that Joe came out andstomped back to his own office.

Catherine got up and walked over to Joe's office. She opened thedoor just in time to see a dart thunk into the target by the doorwith some serious force and quickly backed out. "May I come in,Joe?"

Joe waved her in as he set the remaining darts on his desk. "Sure,Radcliffe, come on in."

She came in and closed the door behind her. "What was that aboutwith the suits in Moreno's office?"

Joe sat up straight in his chair. "The FBI showed up to take overthe case. An agent named James McClendon was the one in charge. Theywanted all copies of the files on the incident. Moreno was not at allhappy about the FBI stepping in. I think he would have thrown themall three out of his office if he thought he could get away with it.As it was, after they left, he told me not to give them any more helpthan I had to and to keep him informed on everything that happens."Then he looked at Catherine with a malicious grin. "I hope you keptcopies of everything for yourself."

"Of course, Joe, you know me." She smiled back at him.

"I thought so." He grinned back. "Keep them to yourself for now.I'm going to check with a friend of mine in the Washington FBIoffice. See if I can find out what's really going on."

Catherine went back to her desk and buried herself in her othercases. At lunch she went to a deli down the street, then she took ataxi to the Bronx to interview a potential witness on one of hercases. Since becoming involved with Vincent, Catherine had developedthe habit of always checking for tails. Other wise she would neverhave noticed the two dark suited men that had followed her from theoffice. On her way back, she stopped off at her apartment buildingand hid her copy of the files behind a loose brick just inside thetunnel entrance to her building. Afterwards she went up to herapartment and changed her blouse. She had gotten a stain on thesleeve while at the deli.

When she got back, she went into Joe's office to report on herinterview. "It looks like Donavan will testify. He will come intomorrow to give us his statement."

Joe smiled. "That's great Radcliffe; I knew you could do it. Idon't know how you do it, but you always manage to come through withthe witnesses."

"Thanks, Joe" Catherine grinned. "By the way, I think the FBI ishaving me tailed."

Joe looked startled and sat up straight. "What was that?"

Catherine leaned on the edge of his desk. "Two suits in a darksedan followed me to lunch and to my interview. Then they followed meback here to the office."

Joe looked very unhappy. "I don't like this. You don't know forsure that they were FBI."

Catherine was startled as she realized that Joe was right. "Nowthat you mentioned it, I'm not sure who they were. I justassumed…"

"I want you to stop at my office when you get ready to leave forthe night," Joe ordered.

"Surely that's not necessary, Joe." She argued. "I can take careof myself."

"I don't like this situation and until I know who is followingyou, I want you protected." Joe was very emphatic.

Catherine knew it was useless to argue when he was like this."Okay, Joe," She replied and went back to her desk.

* * * * *

When she first woke up the next morning, Naomi was afraid becauseshe didn't know where she was. As she looked around, she recognizedthe nice old lady that had put her to bed. Her name was Mary. Lastnight was all a blur. She remembered the frantic rush to load up thestation wagon, leaving most of her toys behind, and the wild ridewith the black car chasing them. Then there were the loud bangs andthe crash. Naomi wrinkled her brow as her five year old mind wastrying to wrap itself around what had happened. The next part was sostrange like a fairy tale or like one of her brother's favoritemovies - a big scary monster had caught her when she was thrown outof the car. The monster had been nice and had taken her to a magicunderground kingdom where another nice man called Father had fixed upher leg, which was hurting right now.

Mary spoke to her. "Good morning, Naomi. What do you say we getyou dressed? You've got a big day today."

Naomi replied, a little unsure, "Okay." She winced as she moved."My leg hurts."

Mary handed Naomi a small cup that she had been holding. "I knowdear. Father told me to give you this when you woke up. It will makeyou feel better."

The red liquid in the cup tasted funny but Mary insisted that shedrink all of it.

Mary helped Naomi get the soft nightgown off and checked thesplint on her leg. Naomi remembered that the man called Father hadsaid the tibbi-something was broken but it was a 'clean' break. Naomiknew it was clean cause mommy had given her a bath yesterday. NextMary checked the bandages on her arm and her side. Naomi hadn'trealized she was hurt on her side until Father had started treatingit. Naomi was beginning to get cold when Mary started dressing her insoft well patched clothes.

Mary spoke. "I'm putting you in several layers because it's cooland damp down here." She stopped and listened for a minute and Naominoticed the sound of banging on metal pipes. "Vincent will be heresoon to take you to breakfast."

"Vincent." That was the name of the monster. "He isn't going toeat me, is he?" She was just a little bit scared thinking about someof the TV shows she had seen her brother watching.

Mary looked at her, startled, for several seconds, and then shestarted to laugh. "No, honey, Vincent is going to take you to thedining chamber so you can have breakfast." She smiled at Naomi. "Hecould never hurt a sweet little thing like you."

Just as Mary finished dressing her, Vincent called from outsidethe door. "It's Vincent. May I come in?"

Mary responded, "Come on in, Vincent. We're just about ready."

Vincent walked in. He was just as big and scary as Naomiremembered. Then he spoke. "Good morning Naomi. Good morning Mary."His voice was so sweet and mellow that any fear of him meltedaway.

"Morning … Vincent." She remembered him telling her to callhim Vincent. She liked that name.

"Would you like to go get some breakfast?" He asked. A smileflashed momentarily across his face and exposed four very long, verysharp, and very scary fangs. She was reminded again of some of themovies her brother liked to watch, but the warmth in his deep blueeyes made her feel safe and unafraid.

"I'm hungry." She replied as she realized she was very hungry.

Vincent reached down and picked her up. "Then let's go get somebreakfast." He turned and headed out the doorway. "You coming, Mary?"He asked over his shoulder.

Mary called out from behind them. "I'm right behind you. Lead on,MacDuff."

Naomi looked up at Vincent in surprise. "I thought you wereVincent."

Vincent laughed. "I am. Mary was just quoting a line from a playby Shakespeare."

Naomi was confused. "Who's Shakier?"

Vincent replied. "William Shakespeare is a man that wrote severalstories many years ago."

"Oh." Her response was tinged with doubt.

Vincent could hear Mary laughing behind him. They soon reached alarge chamber with several long tables in it. Vincent set Naomi downat a table with several young children. Then he sat down next to her.Mary also came to sit with the children. Soon a very large redhaired, smiling man came up.

"Good morning, Vincent, Mary. And who is this pretty young girlwith you?" Inquired the large man.

Vincent replied. "William, I would like to introduce you to Naomi.She is going to be staying with us for a little while."

William smiled at Naomi. "Good morning Naomi. How do you like youreggs cooked?"

Vincent looked up in surprise. "We have eggs this morning?"

William nodded with a smile. "Special gift from a helperAbove."

Naomi looked up at him timidly. "Mommy makes em scameld withcheese and … uh… mush….mush…rooms."

William smiled. "An excellent choice! I'll whip it up foryou."

Vincent spoke up. "That sounds good, I'd like that too."

Mary piped in. "Same for me, William."

The other children at the table started talking to Naomi. Theyintroduced themselves and asked her about herself. They were all verynice to her and by the time the eggs arrived Naomi was talking tothem like they were all old friends. Geoffrey reminded her a lot ofher older brother. Conversation lagged a bit as they dived into theirbreakfasts. Naomi thought the eggs were very good.

After they were all through eating, Vincent picked up Naomi andheaded out of the dining room with several of the small childrenfollowing behind. He led them into a room that had hundreds of bookspiled on every inch of free surface. He set Naomi down on a footstooland sat down in the large chair next to her. The rest of the childrenwho had followed them gathered around and sat on whatever surfacesthey could find.

For the next few hours, Vincent read stories to the children andhe would use the stories to teach them some of their numbers andletters. Naomi enjoyed listening to Vincent read the stories as muchas she enjoyed watching a favorite TV show, especially since withVincent she could ask him questions if she heard something that shedidn't understand and he would patiently explain it to her 'til shedid understand. After each story they would all talk about what hadhappened in the story and why and what it meant. She also found thatlearning letters and numbers from Vincent was fun because he was sopatient and he talked to them in a way they could understand.

When lunch time came around Vincent told the children that classwas over and to go get lunch. Then Vincent asked Naomi, "Would youlike to have lunch with me?"

Naomi looked up at Vincent and nodded her head. "Uh-huh."

Vincent smiled. "Then I guess we had better go." With that hepicked her up and started toward the dining hall.

Naomi threw her arms around his neck. She felt so much safer thanshe had in a long while. When Vincent was carrying her, she felt likeno one could harm her. In fact, she was becoming very attached tohim. She also liked the feel of the fur around his neck and hands.His fur reminded her of the teddy bear she had left behind. Soon theyarrived in the dining hall and Vincent set her down at the table withthe rest of the children. While she was there, several adults came byto meet her. It was a little bit scary meeting all of thesestrangers, but Vincent was sitting next to her and his hand restingon her shoulder took away her fear. Some of these new people turnedout to be quite nice. She was delighted by the one called Mouse andshe really liked Jamie.

As the various people of the community met Naomi, they all weretaken in by her sweetness and vulnerability. By the end of lunchnearly the whole community had taken Naomi into their hearts. Vincentfound that he had developed a strong attachment to her as well. Hefelt proud of how well Naomi was handling her new environment.Although he didn't realize it, he had developed very strong paternalfeelings towards her.

Near the end of the lunch time Father came over. "And how are youfeeling today, Naomi?"

Naomi smiled at him. "My leg hurts a lot but I feel better."

Father patted her head. "Well, why don't you have Vincent bringyou to the infirmary so we can check out your leg?" Father took herhand. "I'll see you in a little while." Then he turned and left.

Naomi looked up at Vincent. "What's a firmary?"

Vincent smiled. "An infirmary is another name for a doctor'soffice or an emergency room. It's the place where the doctor treatspeople who are sick or hurt."

Naomi smiled back. "Oh."

When she had finally finished her second dessert, which Williamhad insisted she needed to make her leg feel better, Vincent pickedher up and the headed off to the infirmary chamber. Once there Fatherpoked and prodded her and examined her leg. Naomi complained that itwas hurting again. Then he re-wrapped it.

"Well, Naomi, your leg is healing nicely but you still need tostay off of it for a while yet." He handed her four chewable pillsfrom a new bottle he had just opened. "Here Naomi, eat these. Theywill make your leg hurt less." Then Jacob turned to Vincent. "I sentPeter a message about Naomi this morning and he sent these to me justbefore lunch. They will be much better for her than what I have beenusing." He handed the bottle to Vincent. "Give her two pills aboutevery six hours. If she needs it you can give her up to four pills."Father turned to Naomi. "What do you have planned for the day?"

Vincent replied. "I thought I'd take Naomi around and show hersome of the sights." Vincent laid his hand on Naomi's shoulder. "Thenafter dinner I was going to see if Mary could look after Naomi whileI met Catherine to find out what she has discovered."

Father almost smiled at Naomi. "You two have fun." Then he leanedtowards Naomi and spoke in a stage whisper. "And I expect you to keepVincent out of trouble."

This made Naomi giggle as Vincent picked her up and left the room.The first place Vincent took Naomi was the chamber where Rebecca madeall of her candles. Naomi's eyes lit up at the sight. Every freeniche held a lit candle making the whole room dance with light. Theroom was filled with racks and shelves of all colors and shapes ofthe beautiful candles. The air was filled with the scent of warm waxand all the herbs used to add aromas to the candles. Rebecca lookedup as she pulled a rack of new candles out of the pot.

As she hung them out to cool and harden she spoke. "Hello,Vincent, Naomi."

Naomi looked at her in surprise. "You know my name?"

Rebecca replied. "Of course I do. Everybody down here has heardabout the pretty little girl that Vincent snatched out of mid air."She smiled. "By the way, what is your favorite color?"

Naomi thought for a second. "Purple."

Rebecca smiled. "And what is your favorite smell?"

Naomi's brows furrowed as she concentrated for several seconds onher answer. "My mother always smelled like jassin." Naomi turned toVincent. "I miss mommy." She said plaintively.

"I know you do Naomi." Vincent replied gently.

Rebecca looked at Vincent, then Naomi as she wiped a tear that hadsprung to her own eye. Most of the tunnel inhabitants knew by nowthat Naomi had lost her family to a terrible car accident. "So …so you like the smell of jasmine?"

Naomi nodded her head. "Uh-huh."

Rebecca grinned. "Would you like to help me make some candles,Naomi?"

This brought out a big grin and Naomi nodded her head again."Uh-huh."

For the next hour Naomi and Vincent helped Rebecca make candles.Rebecca taught Naomi several tricks she used to color, shape, andscent the candles and Naomi had a wonderful time. She even made threespecial candles herself. One for Vincent, one for Father, and one forVincent's Catherine. Naomi practically beamed when Rebecca andVincent both praised her on how beautiful they were. After that batchhad been set aside to cool and harden Vincent picked up Naomi andthey left the candle chamber.

The next stop was Mouse's workshop with its myriad of objects andgadgets scattered around in a kind of ordered chaos. Naomi wasfascinated with all the neat things she saw there. She spent severalminutes looking into a kaleidoscope that Mouse had built. She wastotally charmed when Mouse let her give a snack to Arthur, theraccoon.

Next Vincent took her to a place he called the Chamber of Echoes.Every sound she made seemed to echo back and forth for severalminutes. Then Vincent showed her how if you were very quiet and movedaround slowly you could find spots where you could hear sounds fromdifferent parts of the world above.

Their next stop was Elizabeth's painted tunnels. Naomi gazed atthe wall murals in wide eyed wonder. The first painting was of Fatherholding Vincent as a baby. Vincent told Naomi how Father had foundhim abandoned behind St. Vincent's Hospital and raised him as his ownson. Each painting had a story to tell and as they looked at them,Vincent would tell her the story behind the picture. They looked atthe painting of the first Winterfest as he told her about thattradition. As they looked at the picture of Vincent and the carousel,he told her about his childhood adventures with his adopted brotherDevin. As they looked at a picture of Vincent reading to a mummy, hetold her about Catherine's rescue in the park. The picture of aburied ship brought out a story of found treasure that was given topeople in need. The picture of Catherine, Mouse and Winslow pushing amachine against a wall with Vincent and Father on the other side inthe dark brought out the harrowing tale of the cave-in and howCatherine and Mouse led that rescue effort.

At the far end they came to Elizabeth who had already sketched outVincent's rescue of Naomi. In the background a station wagon wasshown upside down in the air. In the foreground was the bundled Naomihigh up and next to that was Vincent just above the ground andreaching for the falling bundle. Naomi gazed at this preliminarydrawing in wide eyed amazement for several minutes while Elizabethworked on it. Then Elizabeth got Naomi to help her fill in some ofthe green grass at the bottom of the picture. Finally Vincent pickedNaomi up and told her it was time to move on. As they walked awayNaomi stared back at that last drawing and Vincent felt a melancholysettle over her.

The final stop of the tour was the largest cavern she had everseen. There was a lake that extended to the far side of the cavernwhere they could see a thirty foot high waterfall that poured intoit. The walls were ablaze with glowing moss in every color of therainbow. As Naomi and Vincent sat by the edge of the undergroundlake, they talked about all the things she had seen and the peopleshe had met. Vincent asked her if she knew how to swim. When she saidno, Vincent told her that they would teach her how to swim so thatshe could come down here with the other children. The idea of playingin the lake with the other kids definitely perked her up. Finally asdinner time approached, Vincent again picked her up and headed backto the dining chamber. Naomi again thought about how much she likedbeing carried by Vincent because she felt safe when he held her.

By the time they got back, the dining hall was already full andthe food was being passed out. Naomi was very hungry and the foodsmelled so good. During dinner it seemed like everyone came over tosay hello to Naomi again. Naomi enjoyed all the attention and thefood was delicious.

During the meal Vincent sensed a moment of worry from Catherinebut it went away quickly. After dinner Vincent placed Naomi in Mary'scare and left for his planned rendezvous with Catherine. Halfway toher apartment building entrance he got a strong sense of alarm andbroke into a run. By the time he got to her apartment building thefeeling had faded but there was still a faint undercurrent ofanxiety.

Mary sat with Naomi for a while and they talked about what she hadseen and done. Finally as Naomi began to grow sleepy Mary took her toa new larger chamber that had several beds in it. Mary told her thatthis was where many of the children slept and they had fixed up a bedespecially for her. Mary took her to her bed where Naomi found apurple candle that smelled of jasmine sitting on the littlenightstand. As Mary put her to bed she snuggled down under thecovers. She felt warm and happy and safe here. It had been a longtime since she had felt this way. As she fell asleep Naomi thoughtabout the big gentle monster that she now considered her very ownprotector.

* * * * *

Catherine stuck her head into Joe's office. "I'm done for the day,Joe."

Joe looked up. "Ah, Radcliffe, come in." Then he picked up thephone and dialed. "Yes, this is Joe Maxwell. I need you to send overthose officers I requested… That's fine, thanks." Then he hungup. "I've requested a police escort to be sure you make it homesafe."

"Are you sure that's necessary, Joe?" Catherine asked.

"Yes I am." Joe replied. "This is a lot bigger than we thought.First, the people in the wagon were supposed to be in the witnessprotection program. They were all members of the family of a witnessto a massive scandal in the city and possibly the state government.Anyway they think the corruption goes very high up." Joe looked grim."The victims in the car were his wife, his brother, and his twelveyear old son." Joe eyed her closely. "The only other known relativeis his five year old daughter, but she has disappeared and everyoneis going nuts over there trying to find out what happened toher."

"What do they think happened to her? Could she be with anotherrelative?" Catherine asked.

"That's what has them stumped. There are no other livingrelatives. She should have been in the wagon with the rest of thefamily. My friend said that this incident has stirred up a hornet'snest over there at the Bureau. It means that there is a leak insidethe witness protection program." Joe again looked at her intently."He told me that if I knew where the girl was, I should keep it tomyself for now. At least until they can find and plug the leak."

"What about the father?" Catherine asked.

"They've moved him, but after what happened last night they aretaking no chances. My friend says that they have told the witnessthat his daughter is alive and safe." Again Joe watched her closely."I just hope they're right."

Catherine returned his look. "I'm sure that she's safe." Then sheswitched subjects. "What about the gunmen?"

"The two men in the sedan turned out to be professional hit men."Joe grimaced. "They weren't talking and they already have a very highpriced lawyer." Then he smiled. "Fortunately, because of yourstatement and careful handling of the crime scene, even that highpriced lawyer couldn't get them bail. The FBI is also putting theirfull weight behind this case. They don't take it kindly when thefamily of a major witness gets bumped off. It's bad for business."Two police officers came in at this point. "Unfortunately, because ofyour statement and careful handling of the crime scene, you could bea target. That's why I've arranged for you to have police escort.Since that apartment building of yours has pretty good security andno way to enter or leave unobserved, you should be safe once you gethome."

Until now Catherine had not considered the possibility of herbecoming a target. The idea made her suddenly very nervous and shehad to work to keep her emotions under control.

Joe turned to the two officers. "Miss Chandler has been a witnessin a very important case and there may be some people out to get her.Your job is to ensure that she gets home safely and to watch over herbuilding till you are relieved."

The two officers drove Catherine home and insisted on escortingher up to her apartment. When she opened the door the first thing shenoticed was the mess. Her entire apartment had been ransacked. Thetwo officers rushed in ahead of her, guns drawn, and checked theentire apartment out for any intruders. Meanwhile Catherine fought tosuppress her panic at such a personal invasion on top of beingconsidered a possible target. The last thing she needed right now wasto have Vincent come running to her rescue while these policemen werehere.

One of the officers used her phone to report in while the otherofficer helped her check out the apartment for missing items.

A half hour later two detectives arrived to check over the scene.One of them was the same detective from the crash scene last nightand she thanked him for getting those reports to her. After an hourthe detectives announced that the job appeared to be veryprofessional and no clues had been left behind. After the detectivesleft the two officers stayed to help her straighten up. Once theapartment was more or less back in order the two officers got readyto leave.

The first officer turned to Catherine at her door. "There doesn'tappear to be any intruders here now but one of us will be stationedoutside your door tonight."

"That's not really necessary officer." Catherine was thinkingfast. "This door is pretty sturdy and I have a good dead bolt in it.I also have an alarm with a panic button if I need it. If you need tostand guard, the lobby is much more comfortable and the alarm soundsat the front desk."

The first officer thought about it for a minute. "Alright MissChandler but if you see or hear anything unusual, you hit that panicbutton and we'll get here as fast as we can." He rested his hand onher shoulder. "You lock the dead bolt as soon as we leave. Okay?"

Catherine nodded. "I'll do that, officer."

The two officers left and she closed and locked the door. Shewaited twenty minutes then after carefully checking outside her door,she went back out and down to the basement, by way of the stairs,where she met Vincent.

After assuring Vincent that she was safe, Catherine told himeverything that had happened and what she had learned about Naomi andher family.

"Other than the father, who is currently unavailable, she has noother family." Catherine was saying. "How is she dealing with whathappened to her?"

Vincent thought a moment. "That is hard to say. Most of the timeshe does just fine but occasionally I can sense feelings of sadnessin her and last night she woke up crying and badly shaken by anightmare." He paused as he thought about Naomi's behavior. "I don'tthink she really remembers the crash or she is blocking it out."

Catherine shook her head. "I just wish there was more we could do.I don't envy the one that has to tell her that her family isgone."

Vincent leaned back against the tunnel wall and looked downward."Maybe by then she will have come to think of us as part of herfamily. Hopefully it will help to soften the blow."

Vincent leaned there a moment longer, looked up and proceeded totell Catherine about his day with Naomi. After a little more smalltalk they separated. Catherine headed back up to her apartment andVincent headed down to his chambers. Both were deeply wrapped up intheir own thoughts as they went to bed that night.

Catherine had found it difficult to fall asleep that night. Shehad kept going over all the violence and tragedy that had surroundedNaomi. Eventually she began thinking about what Vincent had told herabout his day with Naomi and she smiled at the vision of Naomi beingcared for by her own personal, friendly monster. Finally Catherinefell asleep.

- - - -

As he prepared for bed, Vincent was disturbed by a feeling ofunease. He checked his chamber then he checked the tunnel outside hischamber. He could find nothing wrong but the feeling would not letup. After pacing his room for several minutes he went out to checkall the outer perimeter guard stations. He could find nothing wrongand he finally retired to his own room. He concentrated on his linkwith Catherine but there was no threat there. When he tried to pindown the source of his restlessness, he could find no reason for it.Finally he fell asleep. Several times during the night Vincent wasawakened by that same feeling of unease but try as he could, he wasunable to identify any cause.

* * * * *

Early the next morning, as Vincent lay there unable to sleep, hebegan mulling over the events of the last two days and the remarkablelittle girl, Naomi. He thought about the day he had spent with herand the sad story of her family. Suddenly he was almost blinded by aflash of insight. He shot out of his bed and ran out of his chamberlike a bullet fired from a gun.

- - - -

That morning Catherine woke up feeling rested and ready for a newday. As she stepped into the elevator she was humming to herself andpressed the button for the basement. She was getting an early startand she thought she would go to work by way of the tunnels andpossibly check in on Naomi and Vincent. Then she remembered the twopolicemen that were probably waiting for her in the lobby andreluctantly pushed the Lobby button.

At the fifteenth floor a man got into the elevator, nodded to her,and pressed the button for the twelfth floor. Catherine was on thealert but not too worried. She guessed he had rented that emptyapartment on twelve. She wondered who it was on fifteen that hadrecommended him. At the twelfth floor two men got in and grabbed heras the doors closed and the first man shoved a gun in her face.

The man with the gun spoke. "You have one chance. Where arethey?"

Catherine knew that since she had seen their faces, she would bedead once they had what they wanted. She stalled. "What are youtalking about?"

"Where are they?" The gunman yelled as he smashed her across theside of her head with his gun, causing her to see stars.

Catherine let herself go completely limp when she was hit; herlegs had gone wobbly anyway. She was barely aware of what she wasdoing as her training with Isaac Stubbs took over. At that moment allthree men were startled to hear a roar like that of a lionreverberate through the elevator. Being unnerved by the roar andhaving to deal with the apparently unconscious woman on their handsleft them momentarily off guard. There was a loud thump on theelevator ceiling and, somewhere in her haze, Catherine knew thatVincent would be dropping through the ceiling trap door at anymoment. She suddenly uncoiled, straightened her legs and drove bothher elbows into the stomachs of the two men that were holding her,knocking the wind out of them. She saw through a gray haze, the faceof the gunman register shock and fear at the sight of Vincentdropping through the ceiling maintenance hatch, and then great painas her knee impacted with his groin. As the gunman went to his kneesdropping his gun, she kicked him in the face. Meanwhile Vincent hadgrabbed the other two from behind and threw them with tremendousforce against opposite sides of the elevator.

Alerted by the elevator being called to the eighteenth floor, thetwo policemen sent to escort her to work were waiting by the elevatorwhen the doors opened. They were both very surprised to see petiteCatherine Chandler standing there with blood running down the side ofher head and three big men lying unconscious at her feet. She swayedthen stumbled forward as the two policemen caught her and eased herinto the chair against the wall.

"Are you Okay, Miss Chandler?" One of the officers askedworriedly.

Catherine replied half heartedly. "I'll survive." She grimaced andtouched her head as the world seemed to be fading in and out of agray fog. "I think."

The second officer checked the three men. "What happened?"

Catherine looked over, causing her head to spin. "Wanted to ask mequestions." She blinked several times trying to focus. "Didn't likemy answer." Everything went black and white. She groaned, her headthrobbing, as the world seemed to slip away.

The second officer caught her as she started to slide out of thechair. Meanwhile the first officer called for an ambulance and foradditional backup.

Two ambulances and three police cars arrived at the same time. Theparamedics checked Catherine, who had now been unconscious forseveral minutes, very carefully and pronounced her stable fortransport. She was loaded into one ambulance and one officer climbedin to accompany her. That ambulance headed to the hospital followedby one of the police cars.

The three men were examined and then they were taken to the jailinfirmary. One of the officers retrieved the gun from the floor ofthe elevator, handling it carefully to avoid disturbing anyfingerprints.

* * * * *

Catherine's head felt like someone was trying to drive a nailthrough it, and that god awful wailing noise only made it worse.

The officer riding in the ambulance saw Catherine open her eyesand blink several times. She groaned, threw up then closed them againas she began choking. The paramedic quickly turned her on her sideand worked to clear her airway. Finally she was breathing normallyagain. The paramedic checked her over and told the officer that shewas still alive and stable. He informed the officer that this oftenhappened with concussion cases.

* * * * *

Catherine's head hurt and she didn't want to open her eyes."Vincent?" She groaned.

Then she heard Joe calling to her. "Cathy, are you okay? Saysomething." She felt someone grip her hand.

She opened her eyes to find Joe leaning over her. "My head hurts."She croaked out. She wanted to say something witty but all she gotout was, "What happened?"

Another voice spoke up. "You have a concussion and a hairlinefracture along the left temple, but you're going to be fine. Justrest for now. Give yourself time to heal."

Joe spoke. "All we know is the elevator doors opened and there youwere with three thugs unconscious at your feet."

She tried to answer but she could feel the world slipping awayagain. She saw Vincent standing over her, and then he morphed intoJoe. All the time she heard voices in the background demanding toknow where they were. Then he morphed back into Vincent and she felthis love surround her then the voices went away.

* * * * *

The next time she woke up her head was aching but not as bad."Vincent?" She groaned. Then she felt someone grab her hand and sheopened her eyes.

Joe was leaning over her. "Cathy, it's Joe. I'm right here. Areyou all right? Can you talk?" She could hear the concern in hisvoice. "Do you want me to get this Vincent for you?"

Catherine shook her head which turned out to be a mistake. Shefelt nausea rising up within her and a severe pain flash through herskull. With a great effort of will she forced down the nausea. "Myhead hurts." She looked at Joe, then raised the hand Joe was notholding and noticed an IV tube and a pulse monitor attached to thatarm. She looked back at Joe. "What happened?" Her brows furrowed asshe felt a strong sense of déjà vu wash over her. "DidI already say that?"

Joe squeezed her hand. "Actually I was going to ask you that." Joepatted her hand. "The elevator doors opened and you were standingthere with three very large unconscious men at your feet and blooddripping from your head." She could hear the frank admiration mixedwith the concern in Joe's voice. "Then you passed out. We have noidea what happened before the doors opened." Joe smiled down at her."Do you remember what happened on that elevator?"

Catherine thought about what to say, which wasn't easy with herhead hurting like it was. "It's all kind of hazy … I rememberthree men getting on the elevator … Two of them grabbed me andthe third shoved a gun in my face." She frowned in concentration asJoe nodded encouragement. "The man with the gun asked 'Where arethey?' When I said I didn't know he hit me with the gun … Iguess the training I did with Isaac just took over." She stopped tothink. "I remember going limp. Then while they were trying to hold meup I struck out at all three at once. I elbowed the two holding me inthe solar-plexus." Her weak grin got slightly wider "I rememberkneeing the gunman in the groin." She got a wicked gleam in her eyes."Hard." She concentrated for a couple of seconds. "The rest of it isjust a blur."

Joe spoke again. "After what you did to those three I'm thinkingwe need to have all the undercover officers take Stubbs' course." Joelooked grim. "Well they're in custody now and this time we're goingto be doubly careful."

Joe patted her hand again and Catherine wondered if he evenrealized that he was doing it. She could see the genuine concern inhis face. There was a lot more than a simple boss - employeerelationship there. She also noticed the edge to Joe's voice. "Whatdo you mean 'this time' and 'doubly careful', Joe?"

Joe frowned. "Both of the hit men from the car shootout werekilled in the middle of the night, last night. It looked like theykilled each other but the evidence is contradictory and I just don'tbuy it." Joe looked at Catherine; his eyes gleamed with deadlyseriousness. "Add to that the news of the attack on you this morning,the gunman from this morning was an FBI agent, and there are a lot ofpeople in the FBI that are extremely disturbed over thesedevelopments. I suspect that a lot of heads will roll before thisthing is over and I think they are looking at you as a lightning rodto draw out the rats." He grinned at her. "You've already exposed atraitor in the local FBI office and I think you embarrassed them."Joe chuckled. "Petite little Cathy Chandler managed to take out atrained agent and two goons in less than two minutes inside a movingelevator. You've certainly got my respect, Radcliffe."

Catherine thought about that news and asked, "But how did they getin past the officers and the apartment security guard?"

Joe shook his head. "They didn't. They were already there." Joesqueezed her hand. "Apparently, they got in yesterday afternoon,broke into a vacant apartment on the twelfth floor, and just waitedtill the elevator went to your floor. They caught you alone on theway down but you turned out to be more than they could handle."

* * * * *

When Naomi woke up this time she knew where she was and she feltsafe. Mary was there waiting for her and wished her a good morning.Naomi looked around and noticed that all the other children wereabsent. "Where is everyone?" She asked sleepily.

"They've already gotten up and headed to the dining chamber," Maryresponded.

Once Naomi was fully awake Mary proceeded to help her get dressedfor the day. When she was dressed, one of the men she had met atlunch yesterday came to carry her to breakfast and Mary followedbehind.

Naomi asked Mary, "Where is Vincent?"

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, honey. I think he hadto go meet Catherine. I'm sure he'll show up later."

Breakfast was good and Naomi enjoyed talking to the other childrenbut she missed Vincent and worried about him. She was also beginningto miss her family. The children were all excited about a plannedtrip to the Waterfall Lake for the afternoon and Naomi was sooninfected by the lighthearted emotions of the other children.

When they all got to the chamber Naomi thought of as the bookroom, Mary started reading to the children like Vincent had the daybefore. Just before lunch time Vincent showed up. He came over andsat on the floor next to Naomi and listened to Mary read to thechildren.

As lunch came to an end Vincent told the children to be back inthe dining chamber and ready to go in two hours if they wanted to goon the expedition to the Waterfall Lake. The children cheered andscattered. Vincent took Naomi to see Father so he could check on herinjuries. On the way he noticed a sense of sadness growing in her."What's bothering you Naomi?"

Naomi looked up at his face. "I miss Mommy and Jerry."

Vincent held her close. "I know you do." He felt a tightness inhis throat. She still did not know the extent of the tragedy. "Thereis nothing we can do about that, but I promise, I will take care ofyou and keep you safe for them." How did he tell a five year old thather family was gone?

After checking her over, Father pronounced her healthy and theinjuries healing.

Vincent asked, "Father, you know I'm taking the children down tothe lake this afternoon. Will it be okay for Naomi to go in thewater? I already asked her and she hasn't learned to swim yet."

Father looked at her thoughtfully. Then he added a little extrasupport to the splint and just used just a few bandages to hold it inplace. "That should make it so she can walk on it while in thewater." He looked sternly at Vincent and then at Naomi. "You are onlyto walk on that leg when you are in the water. You are to have anadult with you at all times and you are to come straight here whenyou get back so I can change your bandages. Is that agreed?"

Naomi solemnly nodded her head and Father reached out and ruffledher hair. "Then go and have fun."

Vincent carried Naomi back to the girl's side of the children'schamber where Mary helped her change into clothes more appropriatefor the upcoming trip.

Naomi asked Mary, "Does Father ever smile?"

Mary looked at her a moment then laughed. "I don't know, dear. ButI have heard some say that if he ever did smile his face would crackin half … There you are. All ready for the lake."

Vincent came in to get Naomi and, from the amusement in his eyes,Mary could tell he had heard the comments about Father.

Afterwards Vincent and Naomi met Jamie and they went back to thedining chamber where they were met by the rest of the children andtwo other young adults who had volunteered to act as chaperones. Assoon as everyone was ready they set out for the lake cave.

Once they arrived Vincent supervised the setting up of the campfire then all the children jumped into the water.

Jamie volunteered to stay with Naomi and they got alongwonderfully. Jamie took her assumed responsibility very seriously andnever let Naomi get very far from her. The youngest children stayedin the shallow area with Naomi and they had fun splashing and playingwater games. Jamie became the official organizer and referee for theyoungest children.

While he watched Naomi play, Vincent brooded over his problem.Naomi had to be told eventually about the death of her family. Itstill hurt whenever he remembered telling Eric about the death of hissister. Naomi was much younger than Eric had been and he just didn'tknow how to tell her.

Later, all the children got out of the water and came to sitaround the fire to tell ghost stories and eat hotdogs. Jamie stayedby Naomi and helped her cook her hotdog. A couple of times Naominoticed that Vincent would appear to be looking at something very faraway. One of those times she asked him about it. "Vincent, what areyou looking at?"

Vincent shook himself then looked at Naomi. "I'm not reallylooking at anything. Catherine was hurt this morning and I'm justchecking in on her to be sure she's okay."

Jamie looked up surprised. "Catherine hurt?"

Vincent looked at Jamie. "Yes, but she is getting better."

"How do you do that?" Naomi looked around the cavern, puzzled. "Idon't see her."

Vincent looked at Naomi and thought a moment. "If I think veryhard, I can feel what she's feeling. That's how I know."

"Oh." Was her only reply.

After they broke camp, Vincent picked up Naomi and they all headedback to the home tunnels. Jamie stayed close to them the whole wayback. As soon as they got back Vincent took her to Father who tookoff the damp bandages and checked her over. He pronounced her noworse for her adventure and put on a new splint and bandages. ThenVincent took Naomi to her bed and sat up reading to her. Jamie camein while he was reading and sat with them.

At one point Naomi asked. "Vincent, is Catherine okay?"

Vincent stopped and looked at her solemn face. Then heconcentrated on his link to Catherine. He smiled at Naomi. "Catherineis doing just fine. I can tell that she is getting better." Then helooked at Naomi. "And I can tell that your leg is feeling betteralso."

"How do you know?" She asked.

"When I'm very close to someone I can sometimes sense what theyare feeling." Vincent answered. "With Catherine I can do it even whenshe is very far away."

Naomi asked, "Can you tell if mommy is okay?" Her expression wasvery ernest.

Vincent was caught short and he had to choose his words verycarefully. "I have no sense of your mother. I've never met her." Itwasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth and Vincent was botheredby it.

"Oh." There was obvious disappointment in her voice.

At this point the other children had begun to filter in andVincent continued to read to her till Naomi had fallen asleep. Afterthat Vincent went to see Father. He had a lot to talk over withhim.

* * * * *

That afternoon the doctor came in and told Catherine that if therewere no complications, she should be able to go home in the morning.Joe had two officers assigned to guard the door to her hospital room.At dinner time Catherine shooed Joe out of her room, telling him togo eat and get some rest. She said she would see him in themorning.

Later that night after the end of second shift, Vincent came intoher third floor room through the window. He told her about Naomi'ssecond day Below. "Naomi is adapting very well and she gets alonggreat with all of the other children. Jamie has become very fond ofNaomi, also. She has asked about her mother and brother twice and acouple of times I saw her looking very sad when she thought no onewas looking. I think she suspects that something has happened to herfamily. We are going to have to tell her soon." Catherine tookVincent's hand. They continued to talk for about an hour. Vincentexited hastily when they heard a nurse coming into the room. One ofthe officers came in right behind her. The nurse gave Catherine asedative and left. A doctor came in as the nurse was leaving and gaveCatherine a very cursory checkout while asking how she was doing.Something about the doctor just didn't feel right to her. She toldhim she was okay and he did a quick sweep of the room with his eyesthen he left. Catherine thought about it but she couldn't pinpointwhat had bothered her about that doctor. Soon the sedative kicked inand she drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

The next morning Joe arrived just after Catherine had beenpronounced fit to leave. Joe waited outside her room while she gotdressed then said he would escort her home. He seemed to be watchingher very closely as they walked down the hall. "Have you seen Vincentlately?" He asked.

Startled she looked back at Joe. "What?"

"I heard that someone thought they saw a large shadowy figure atthe window to your room last night. I wondered if it might be thismysterious Vincent. Twice now as you were waking up I've heard youmention his name." Joe was watching her very closely.

Catherine forced herself to act unconcerned. This was notsomething she was prepared to deal with. "Vincent?" She tried tothink of what she could say that would satisfy Joe. "Oh Vincent…That's the name of the man that helped me two years ago when I wasattacked and left for dead in Central Park … I must have beenflashing back to that incident." As they waited for the elevator,Catherine silently berated herself. That was more than she wanted Joeto know. She wished she had come up with something better but herhead still ached and she was finding it a little difficult to thinkclearly.

Joe could tell by her barely concealed reactions that he hadcaught her off guard and gotten a direct hit this time. Usually shewas much better at deflecting his verbal shots in their 'Guess theMystery of Catherine' contests, but not this time. He now knew thatsomeone named Vincent had saved her life when she was mugged and leftfor dead in the park and he was apparently still watching over her.He suspected there might even be a romantic angle to thisrelationship. He took pity on her and decided to ease up. She reallywas in no condition for their usual verbal sparring contests. Thedoctor had told him that there might be some residual effects fromthe concussion and last night's sedatives.

"What about the three men who attacked me?" She asked, trying tochange the subject.

"They were always contacted by phone and were paid by envelopesfilled with cash left at different drop locations. We traced theirphone bills but that got us nowhere." The frustration in his voicewas palpable. "They never met their employer and have no idea who hewas or what he looked like."

The elevator doors opened and it turned out to be pretty full.With two doctors, a nurse, an orderly, Catherine, Joe and the twopolicemen the elevator ride from the third floor to the first floorwas a bit crowded. Catherine noticed that Joe looked startled when helooked at one of the doctors. At the second floor the orderly gotoff. When they reached the ground floor one of the policemen told Joeand Catherine to stay put while he went to get the car. The twodoctors and the nurse went over to the main desk. While Catherine andher escorts were waiting, she noticed the doctor who had come intoher room last night was standing in the lobby near the frontdoor.

At that instant five rough looking men converged on Catherine, Joeand the other police officer. As the five men pulled out gunsCatherine heard the words, "FBI … Freeze!" come from threedirections at once. Catherine realized that there were three'doctors', two 'nurses' and two 'patients' holding guns pointed atthe five gunmen who had approached her. The people who had riddenwith her in the elevator and the doctor that had entered her roomlast night were among the FBI agents that were now arresting the fiverough looking men.

Joe greeted the one that he had noticed in the elevator. "Henry,it's a good thing you were here." Joe turned to Catherine. "Cathy,this is Henry Sloan. Henry, I'd like to introduce you to CatherineChandler."

Catherine and Henry shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, andthen Joe asked, "So, how is it going?"

Henry smiled back introducing the man that entered Catherine'sroom last night as he approached. "Joe, Ms. Chandler, this is JamesMcClendon, head of the 'FBI Government Corruption Task Force'."

Joe looked at James closely. "You were with the agents thatgrabbed all of our files and evidence from the shootout and car crashweren't you?"

James responded to Joe's question. "Yes I was. We didn't know whowas involved in the corruption, so we grabbed everything to keep itsafe. Well, I have good news and bad news." Joe looked at Jamesexpectantly. "The good news is that we think we've plugged the sourceof the leak in our operation here. … The bad news is that ourwitness has disappeared. He didn't know who the big cheese is but hewas familiar with a major branch in the operation. Unfortunately hedisappeared before he had told us everything he knew." James shookhis head. "We don't know if he went into hiding or was snatched.Without that witness our case is dead in the water. The best we cando is watch the small fish that he gave us and hope somethingdevelops." He looked directly at Catherine. "I just hope his daughteris somewhere safe."

Catherine looked at James with her best enigmatic smiled. "I'msure that wherever she is, she's safe, healthy and happy."

"I hope you're right." James smiled back. "I just want to thankyou for all your help. We might not have been able to root out theserotten apples without your courage and quick thinking, both at theoriginal crash and in your apartment building elevator. I want you toknow how much we appreciate what you've done and I hope you willforgive us for using you as bait this morning."

Catherine responded, "That's okay. It was probably more like youthought they might come at me again so you were ready for them. Iunderstand completely and thank-you for being there when ithappened."

Henry shook his head. "Joe wasn't exaggerating about you. I justhope that this latest batch we just captured will give us some kindof clue that will help us track down the source of thecorruption."

At this point several more FBI agents arrived and took the fiveattackers away. James and Henry stayed behind with Catherine and Joe.They all escorted her home.

"You take the day off." Joe told her. "Lay down and get some rest.I'll have the police keep watch over your apartment." He got adetermined look in his eyes. "I will personally choose the officersthat get assigned that duty and I will make sure that one is postedat your door at all times."

James spoke up. "I think you should be safe for now with Joekeeping an eye on you. Henry and I will be heading back to WashingtonDC, but Henry will keep in touch with Joe and let him know of any newdevelopments. Meanwhile until we have some idea how far thiscorruption goes it would be best not to talk to anyone other than Joeand us about this case."

Catherine replied, "I will keep that in mind. Who do I call ifsomething new comes up?"

Henry responded, "Tell Joe and he can contact me."

As soon as the men left Catherine went over to her door and openedit to find a police officer seated in the chair near her door. Sheoffered him something to drink. He accepted a glass of water fromher. After closing the door she mumbled to herself. "This is prettydamn inconvenient." Then she made a phone call.

"Hello, Edward? …"

"It's Cathy. Can you get a message to Vincent right away? It'surgent…"

"Good. Tell him that the police have put a guard around myapartment and he must stay away for awhile…"

"I don't know how long. I'll contact him when it's safe…"

"Thank you, and give my love to your father…"

"Bye."

Catherine was deep in thought as she hung up the phone. This wasgoing to be a problem. She had to find a way to get Joe todiscontinue these guards.

- - - -

As the three men left Catherine's apartment Henry addressed Joe."I thought you were exaggerating but everything you've told me abouther was true. Wealth, beauty, brains and guts. You forgot to tell mehow tough she was in a crunch."

James chimed in, "I have to agree, she is quite a woman."

Henry grinned at Joe. "Any romance in the air?"

Joe answered with a self depreciating grin. "I doubt it. I'mpretty sure she's got a boyfriend somewhere in the backgroundpossibly named Vincent. But despite her mysterious personal life, sheis the very best I have ever seen at her job and I would hate toloose her."

Then James spoke up. "What about the daughter? Do you think sheknows where the girl is?"

Joe thought about it. "I don't really know for sure. If she does,she's not telling." He rubbed his chin. "Personally, I hope she doeshave the little girl, because then I could be sure that she was safe.Cathy really cares about kids and she is relentless when it comes toprotecting them from the bad guys." Joe chuckled. "That woman hascontacts and assets that I can't begin to figure out."

James slapped Joe on the shoulder. "I hope so. I should be tryingto track the daughter down but I think for right now it would bebetter for her if I just left it at location unknown. It certainlymakes me feel better to believe that Miss Chandler does have the girltucked away somewhere safe."

* * * * *

Around noon there was a knock at Catherine's door. It was James."Come in Agent McClendon." She nodded to the officer outside her dooras she closed it. "What brings you back here so soon?"

James gave her a half smile. "There are some things I wished totalk to you about, without the others present." He sat in the chairshe indicated. "First off I wanted you to know how things stand. Thismorning we flushed out a major player in the FBI local office. One ofthe men that tried to take you this morning was directly linked tothe head of the local department responsible for settling people inthe witness protection system. Unfortunately the trail ends there.Like before there was no direct contact between him and those givinghim orders. We still don't know who the top man is. Whoever it is, heis very smart and very careful. You must understand, this thing ismuch bigger than what you've seen the last few days." James looked atCatherine, his expression very serious. "I have more than one fingerin this mess, but it could take a while before we can reach the headof the snake." He was now leaning forward looking at her veryintently. "In the mean time, I have to deal with a missing witness, amissing daughter, and you."

Catherine thought, Now we come to it. She knew this was where itcould all fall apart.

James continued. "We know the daughter was in the wagon when itleft their apartment and evidence indicates that she was in the wagonat the time of the crash. I have to know what your part is in thedisappearance of the daughter, and I have to know if you had any partin the disappearance of my witness. I have a lot of latitude in thismatter but I need to be able to assure myself and my superior thatthe girl is safe and that you are not working against us."

Catherine looked surprised. "Then you don't know where the fatherwent?"

James responded. "No. I take it you don't either."

"I'm afraid not." Catherine sat there for a few momentsconsidering what she could or should say. "I can't tell you too much.The safety and welfare of a lot of very good people, including Naomi,is at stake here. Even revealing the fact that they exist is morethan I should do. I'm putting a lot of trust in you by even tellingyou what little I can." She looked down at her hands, then at thebook of Shakespeare's sonnets from Vincent sitting on the coffeetable. Finally she looked back up at James. "Almost two years ago Iwas attacked and left for dead in Central Park."

James cocked his head and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, Iremember hearing about that. It filled the papers for several weeks.The reports said you didn't remember the ten days you weremissing."

Catherine continued. "It was one of those people I mentioned thatfound me and took me to where they live. They saved my life. They notonly took care of me there, they helped give me the strength to makesomething more of my life. As soon as I was strong enough theybrought me back to my home. They asked nothing of me in return. Theydidn't even ask me to keep their secret, though I knew they hoped Iwould." She paused again. "Where they live is a place of refuge. Theyhave Naomi, and there is no place anywhere else where she could besafer or better cared for."

James notice a gleam in her eyes as she paused again in hernarration.

Catherine took a deep breath. "If necessary I can have Naomi backhere in an hour or two, but I think that would be a mistake at thistime. No matter what, I can not tell you any more about those peoplethan I already have. Those people are already on the lookout for yourwitness, because he is Naomi's father, and if he is spotted they willlet me know immediately. It would be helpful if I could get them apicture."

James paused, digesting what he had just been told. Finally hespoke. "How is she doing?"

Catherine leaned back getting comfortable. "Naomi is coping wellwith her new environment. I know she has been enjoying herself thelast two days and the injuries she received in the wreck are healingwell. She misses her family, but she doesn't know they are dead yet.She seems to have very little memory of the accident itself. Just afew nightmares. Breaking the news of her family will be difficult andthey want to give her a few days to become acclimated before theytell her. One of the problems is not being able to tell her whathappened to her father." She waved her hand in the direction of thedoor with a hint of frustration in her voice. "This guard Joe has puton me makes it impossible for me to check up on Naomi."

James had also leaned back into a more relaxed position. "Since wedon't really know if there are any other moles buried in thedepartment, it would be best to keep the daughter out of the system."He waved his hand in her direction. "Based on my conversations withJoe and what I've seen of you, I think you are the best person tolook after the daughter for me." He smiled at her. "I will tell mysuperior that the daughter has been placed in a safe location outsideof the department, known only to me. We will let the word be spreadthat you turned the kid over to me the same day we raided your bossesoffice and she is now in a safe place known only to my boss. Thatshould take you out of the equation so that Joe will ease up after aday or two. I will be the only one that knows of your continuedinvolvement. Even my boss will think you are no longer involved."James nodded. "You've done an awful lot for us already and thisshould take the heat off of you."

James picked up the book on the coffee table and opened it."Shakespeare, huh." Catherine's heart skipped a beat as he glanced atthe inscription. "Personally 'A Midsummer-Night's Dream' is myfavorite play by him." James smiled at her. "I think it is the oldestknown screwball comedy." He looked back down as he flipped to thebook marked page. "I never read his sonnets."

James closed the book, set it back down and stood up. Catherinealso stood up. He looked very seriously at her. "I can see that youare risking a lot telling me as much as you have. I hope you realizehow much I'm putting on the line here as well."

Catherine was just as serious. "I understand. I will personallykeep tabs on Naomi and I will try to get word to you if anythingdevelops."

James handed Catherine a card. "This is my personal number. If youhave any information that deals with the girl, or your friends, callme directly. Otherwise anything else about this case should gothrough Joe."

Catherine thanked him as she let him out the door. She nodded andsmiled to the officer on guard as she closed the door. That night shethought a lot about James' visit. He had been up front with her andwhat he had said made sense. She decided that he could be countedamong the good guys.

* * * * *

Vincent was awakened by a very faint hint of panic. This time herecognized it as coming from Naomi. He sprang out of bed grabbed hiscloak and raced to the children's chamber. He arrived just as Naomicried out. She awoke from her nightmare cradled in Vincent's arms ashe gently rocked her and soothed her with his voice.

Finally she looked up at him and asked, "Where are Mommy and Daddyand Jerry and Uncle Kyle? … I miss them."

Vincent looked down into her teary eyes and sighed. "Naomi, wedon't know where your daddy is. The rest of your family is gone. Theywere lost in that same car wreck when I caught you. Mary, Father andI are your family now." He pointed to all the beds in the chamber."And these are all your brothers and sisters." He noticed that Jamiewas standing at the entrance. "And Jamie also cares about you." Hesmoothed her hair as he held her. "We will always be here to takecare of you."

Naomi thought about what Vincent had said for a few seconds thenshe buried her face in his chest and softly cried for a while. Sheknew it was true and she missed her family. She finally cried herselfout and while Vincent held her she fell back to sleep.

As Vincent gently placed Naomi back in her bed he knew sheunderstood and was going to be alright. He pulled the covers up andtucked her in. He brushed her hair back from her face as he smileddown at her sleeping form then he turned and, nodding to Jamie,headed back to his own chamber.

* * * * *

Two days later Joe decided that Catherine was safe for the timebeing and informed her that he had withdrawn the guard detail.

That evening after work Catherine headed down into the tunnels.Vincent met her halfway.

Catherine asked. "How is Naomi doing?"

Vincent replied. "She's doing quite well. I told her that herfamily is gone and she took it well. The nightmares have stopped andshe no longer mentions her family. I think she has accepted thesituation and adapted." Vincent chuckled softly. "Children that ageare very resilient. What about her father?"

Catherine shook her head. "Nobody knows. He's disappeared and theFBI haven't a clue." She looked up at Vincent's face. "The agent incharge knows that I have Naomi hidden away and has left me in chargeof her safety. Everybody else thinks I gave her to him and he has herin an undisclosed safe house, so for now I'm out of it."

Vincent mulled over this revelation as the continued down thetunnels. They managed to arrive at the dining chamber just in timefor dinner and they found Naomi surrounded by Geoffrey and Jamie.They both went over and sat with Naomi. She greeted Catherineenthusiastically and told her all about her days down Below. Vincentwould occasionally add a remark or two of his own to Naomi's stories.Catherine also notice the adoring looks Naomi gave Vincent wheneverhe spoke. After dinner, Catherine and Vincent went to the children'sdorm where Naomi showed Catherine her purple Jasmine candle. ThenNaomi gave Catherine the candle that she had made for her.

As Catherine got ready to return home she smiled at Vincent whilenodding towards Naomi. "I see you've made a conquest there."

Vincent smiled back. "I think she has stolen a small piece of myheart."

Thinking back to her young gypsy friend from a year ago, Catherinereplied, "I know how you feel."

The End