WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN?
by
PiperMerlyn
Chapter 7
The Chapters
3 May 2006
Athens, Greece
10:51 a.m.
Grant Peters stood at the foot of the bed and stared at his cousin. “Damn, Joe, how’d they catch you flatfooted anyway?” He felt weird talking to the room but Dan had left to give him some time with Joe and now he wished the man had stayed. “Joe, Dan told me Casi’s coming. She knows now.”
The man on the bed moved restlessly, like he was fighting to wake up. There was no beep from a heart monitor since he’d been taken off of life support. But Grant could see his cousin was getting agitated. “Joe, wake up. Casi’s coming here. To see you.”
Joe’s eyes cracked open and he managed a whisper. “C’si?”
“She’ll be here soon. Stay with me now.” Grant moved to the side of the bed so Joe could see him. “Hey, cuz.”
“Gr’t, how...?”
“Jack told me.”
Joe just grunted and shifted one hand. Grant saw the gesture and couldn’t help but grin. “Now, now, cuz, that would have gotten you in trouble in grade school.”
Joe cleared his throat. “Wha’s wrong?”
Grant pulled up a chair. “I could go get the doctor...”
“No...tell me.”
Grant sighed. “You remember that day? Lilith Raven had you, you saw Hargrave and went to dive?” At Joe’s nod, Grant continued, “She shot you as you dove into the water. Hargrave thinks if he hadn’t tooted that horn that last time, none of this would have happened. It startled her and she fired. The bullet hit your neck. Luckily it missed the cerebral cortex, spine and jugular.”
“Hmm...so scar?”
“Ugly sucker. You might have to do the whole Phantom of the Opera thing.”
“Don’ sing.”
Grant smiled. “It nicked your trachea, so you were on full life support for awhile. Joe...” His smile faded. “It’s been two years.”
Joe closed his eyes. “I know,” he finally said. “Casi?”
“She should be here soon.” Grant noticed Joe’s voice was growing stronger. “You’re not going to sleep now, are you?”
Joe opened his eyes. “No. She’s married?”
“Yeah.”
“Whitfield?”
Grant nodded. “Yeah.” As if reading his cousin’s mind, he added, “Joe, don’t—“
“Why not? I didn’t have to do that assignment, I let Jack talk me into one more. He figured I’d quit after I got...married.” Joe let his eyes drift closed. “I should have never gone...”
“It’s not your fault.”
The deep voice startled Joe into opening his eyes again and Grant standing up and turning around. “Who are you?”
“Jonah Ravenscraft.” The man studied Joe for a long moment. “Do you believe in power, power beyond mortal ken?”
Joe fumbled for the button to raise himself up. When he was sitting up, he frowned. “Power? You mean like magic or hocus-pocus?”
“I mean power, not sleight of hand, not illusion.”
For some reason, Joe remembered something. Something he’d barely taken notice of then. What had once been a computer monitor was slag metal with shattered glass all around. It had been in Hadad’s desert compound, when he’d found Casi again...and had walked out of her life. “You’re saying Lilith Raven did more than just shoot me.”
Grant looked at Joe, puzzled. “What more could she do?”
Jonah stared at the tiled floor. “My Lily...my daughter would never have gone to such great lengths but she...” He shuddered. “She changed so much. She changed so many lives.”
Joe felt a cold chill pass through him. He looked around the hospital room and shuddered. “What are you saying, that all this wasn’t supposed to happen?”
Jonah nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“But how?” Grant looked even more confused. “How can someone change things?”
Jonah looked ill at ease. “Power like you’ve never seen.”
“Where is she?” asked Joe, his voice growing stronger and angrier. “Where is Lilith?”
“I don’t know.”
Joe groaned. “I have to get out of here, I have to take her down.”
Grant gave his cousin a shocked look. “You wouldn’t be able to take a dozen steps. Your body’s still dealing with just you waking up. You can’t force yourself.”
“Then get Dan, Jake, someone. She has to be stopped.” Joe felt real panic. “Casi’s coming here.”
Grant suddenly realized Joe’s fear. “I’ll go get Hargrave.”
Jonah stepped aside to let the man leave. “I hope it works. I hope I made it here in time.”
Joe shuddered. “So do I.”
*****
It had become something like a pilgrimage. Every year at this time, she’d come back to Greece. She hadn’t meant for it to play out like that. She’d been startled by the horn and then MacKensey trying to leave. Now he was dead. She was trapped now, in this different reality. She’d changed things too well and she was adrift here. Perhaps it was just as well. She wouldn’t have wanted to return to that other life anyway. Not any more.
She gathered her one travel bag and started for the doors of the airport when she saw something that made her breath freeze in her throat. Her clear eyes, hidden by dark sunglasses, widened in shock. What was Casi MacFairlaigne doing here? And MacKensey’s partner.
Lilith stared as the woman, the twin sister, Ashworth and two other men headed through the sliding glass doors and tried to get a taxi. Anger shot through her and she realized that he had never been dead. It had been a hasty cover-up and Jack had fooled her after all.
She stalked toward the rental agency and rented a car. Then she headed for the main hospital in the city and parked across the street. When she spotted Brogan waiting on the front steps, she knew she’d guessed right. Lilith opened her travel bag and took out an attaché case. She set it on her lap and opened it,to reveal the pieces of a short-stock sniper rifle.
She’d designed the case herself. In both sides of the case were pens, papers, and other assorted office items while a lead interior kept the gun from being discovered. She snapped the pieces together and took aim at the front steps. Brogan was still waiting, she’d have the perfect angle to shoot the woman; maybe the sister and Ashworth into the bargain.
Less than three minutes later a taxi pulled up at the hospital and Lilith saw Cassandra MacFairlaigne and her companions get out of the vehicle. Ashworth paused to talk to Brogan and Lilith knew she’d never get a better chance. Cassandra was standing there at the perfect angle for a killing shot. Lilith’s finger tightened on the trigger...
*****
Casi had been a bundle of nerves from the moment the commercial flight had left Heathrow. For a moment, seeing Donovan waiting for her in Athens had made her panic. They’d had a huge fight the last time she’d seen him. But he’d merely pulled her into a bear hug and told her he’d missed her.
Casi had suspected then that her sister had called him, but she wasn’t that upset. She glanced over her shoulder, saw another taxi pull up behind the first one. Donovan and Chad had ridden in that one and now that they were here, the five of them could go see Joe.
She turned to see if Ethan was done talking with the brown-haired man waiting for them when something white-hot pierced her shoulder. It reminded her of Hadad’s knife slicing into her skin but hurt a hundred times worse. She felt something warm spilling down her chest and staggered against her sister.
Catherine turned to grab Casi and went ghost-pale. “Casi!”
All four men rushed forward as one, Donovan reaching his sister first. “Casi, oh God.”
Brogan rushed for the entrance and darted inside, yelling for a doctor. Donovan cradled his sister’s head in his hands. “Casi, wake up.”
Casi blinked, seeing an odd white halo around her brother’s head. Feeling was fading in her arms and legs and sound seemed to drift away. She tried to speak but couldn’t make her throat work. Slowly her vision faded to nothing.
Catherine shuddered and grabbed her sister’s hand. “Casi, no, stay with us.”
Stunned, Ethan felt his eyes fill with tears as several medical personnel burst out of the hospital. A tall distinguished-looking man knelt down beside Casi and touched two fingers to her neck and then held her wrist. Carefully he closed her staring eyes. “I’m sorry,” said the man.
Chad shook his head. “No. No, this can’t be happening.” He moved to grab the man by the lapels of his white jacket but Ethan shoved him back. Chad seemed to crumple to the steps and began to sob. “No.”
Brogan came back, with Hargrave by his side. “The shot came from over there.”
Hargrave looked white as a ghost himself. “Damn, damn, damn. No one ever thought she’d do this.”
Ethan felt raw anger surge through him. “Who?”
“Lilith Raven,” said Hargrave heavily. “She shot Joe two years ago. And now...”
Ethan swallowed hard. “And now Casi’s dead.”
*****
“I heard a gunshot,” said Joe tightly, struggling to get out of the bed.
Jonah strode to the window but didn’t say anything. After a moment, he turned around to see Joe trying to stand. “No. It’s over. I have to go.”
“Lilith’s dead then?”
Jonah shuddered. “No.”
Joe’s legs went numb and he would have fallen if Jonah hadn’t shoved him back onto the bed. “No. No. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. I can’t lose her. Oh God...”
Jonah stared at the man and then looked at the door. “I have to go.”
Grant Peters ran back into the room, his face full of shock. “Joe...” He barely noticed the other man leave the room. He could only see his cousin seem to deflate completely. “Joe.”
Time seemed to slow down. Grant tried to hurry to his cousin’s side but he seemed mired in slow motion. He would swear he heard each slow, agonizing tick of the clock and then everything...stopped.
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.