Never Tear Us Apart
Chapter
Eleven
(Much later...)
Chloe braided her hair into two tight braids, wrapping a pair of rubber bands around each end. She adjusted her black shirt and walked into the living room where Brady was gearing up for tonight's mission. Brady looked up from a small case of equipment and grinned at her.
"Wow... You look very very super-spy..."
Chloe laughed softly and struck a brief pose. "Well, thank you... I hear all-black is very slimming..."
Brady motioned for her to walk towards him and Chloe willingly obliged, sighing softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "You are... beautiful..."
"And you... are crazy. But, very very brave..."
"And you're not?"
Chloe shrugged slightly and frowned. "No, I'm not. I'm afraid. I'm scared to death... But, I know that I can't back down."
Brady smiled at her and leaned in to give her a sweet, loving kiss on the lips. He backed away from her and brushed his fingers over her cheek gently. "I'm scared too, Chloe... Maybe I don't show it, but I am. I don't like putting you in danger either, but on the other hand -- I'm glad you're here. I don't know if I could do this without you."
"I would never let you. Brady -- when we fell in love, we made a lot of promises to each other. And, one of those promises was that we would always be by each other's side. And this -- is no exception. No matter how afraid I am to do this, I'm going to do it anyway... For you, for Greta, for your dad, for Wes -- for every person back home in Salem that's depending on us."
"You know, Chloe... You're my hero..."
Chloe rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Brady, don't say that... You're the hero in this family. I'm just... here..."
Brady shook his head and wrapped his arms around her until she could rest her head on his shoulder. "You have no idea, Chloe... You're the only thing that keeps me strong, keeps me going..."
Chloe had no words to respond, so she just sighed softly and snuggled into him. She tried to enjoy what would probably be their last moments of safety and peace for a while. Brady was always the one thing in this world she could count on, the only thing that ever made her feel safe.
Finally, she lifted her head from his shoulder and slipped out of his embrace, breaking the moment to return to the task at hand. She sat in a nearby chair and began lacing up her black hiking boots as she watched Brady make his own preparations.
Brady paused for a moment to look at Chloe curiously. "So, Diva... What do you think of our new friend Noah?"
"I think that you don't trust him."
"That did not answer my question..."
Chloe tied the shoelace into a tight knot and grinned up at him. "I know. Let me finish... I think that you don't trust him... but I think that you should. He's in the same situation we are, Brady. He's just trying to find his brother, and he's a good man... He's a lot like you, believe it or not..."
Brady nodded in understanding and smiled at her. "Listen... If you trust him, then so do I. I trust your judgment, Chloe... If you say that he's honorable, then I believe you."
"Good. Because, I really think having him on our side will be a good thing... I just... I can't help but think about that picture. The picture of Jake..."
"Don't... Don't think about it. Put it out of your mind."
"But --"
Both of Brady's eyebrows raised and he looked at her like he was scolding their son. "No, Chloe -- don't do it. The more you think about it, the more weird scenarios your overly creative mind is going to come up with... And, we have more important things than some silly coincidence to focus on right now."
Chloe frowned in reply and sunk into her chair as she watched him continue getting their gear together. Brady didn't even want to consider the thoughts that she had running through her head, and she was beginning to wonder if he was right not to. Maybe she was just paranoid, seeing something that wasn't there to begin with.
There was a soft knock at the door and Chloe watched as Brady went over to let Noah in. Noah had gone back to his hotel to change clothes and check in with his mother back in Louisiana. Brady greeted him and shut the door, as Noah walked over to greet Chloe.
Chloe looked up at him and gave him an unenthusiastic reply to his greeting. "Hey, Noah. Welcome back."
Brady handed each of them a small earpiece attached to a black box that would hang from their belts. Chloe looked at it curiously and then looked at Brady. "Soooooo... What is this for, exactly?"
"Communication... In case one of us has to separate from the group, which is highly likely considering the amount of ground we have to cover, we can still talk to each other..."
"Ohhh... Nifty... So, why does your dad own all this spy equipment anyway?"
Brady grinned at her and shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure... My dad is a man of many talents and secrets. So... Does everybody remember the layout of the mansion, or do we need to go over it again?"
Noah paused for a moment as he went over the floor plans in his mind. "Three floors to the house. Ground floor, second story, and one room in the attic. Underground basement, access from the inside, except for one outside door that is kept locked."
"Locked... until we get to it that is... We go in through the basement."
Noah grinned at him and nodded in understanding. "You mean we're not just going to ring the doorbell and ask for Stefano to give up in peace?"
Chloe giggled softly and winked at her husband. "That's exactly what *I* said..."
Brady ignored their sarcasm and pointed towards the door. "Come on, we can go over the rest of the plan on our way there. It's a thirty minute drive..."
Chloe stood up and gave him a mock salute. "Aye Aye Captain... Let's go."
~*~
(Outside the Mansion)
Chloe and Noah watched in silence as Brady picked his way through the complicated lock to the door that led underground. He finally released it and the door creaked open slowly to reveal a set of stairs. The three of them crept down quietly and when they reached the bottom, Brady peeked around the corner that led into the hallway looking for surveillance cameras.
He pulled out one of John Black's many gadgets and aimed it down the hallway, hitting a few buttons until a green light came on with a quiet beep. Brady had explained that it would feed a video signal of empty hallways to the surveillance center, using a few seconds of video from before their arrival and looping it over and over. They had decided to come here late in the night, assuming that nobody would be roaming the hallways to catch them.
The trio walked down the hallway together, following the plan they had come up with earlier that evening. Brady was leading them but stopped in his tracks when he saw something that wasn't in the plans. There seemed to be a doorway that was not in the blueprints he had been sent, one that was added since Stefano had purchased the property.
Noah was the first one to walk towards it, opening it easily as the door was unlocked. The door opened to reveal a dark stairwell, with seemingly no end in sight. He looked back at Brady and Chloe and shrugged curiously. "It's open... Should -- Should I go up?"
Brady paused to consider it and shook his head. "It's not in the plans... I don't know..."
"All the more reason to think it might be hiding something we want."
Chloe frowned at both men and looked up into the stairwell. "Or it could be a big trap... something might be at the top of those stairs waiting to kill us."
Noah looked at the stairs and then back towards the others. "Hey, I've got a gun, I've got my earpiece... And, I've also got a feeling that whatever is at the top of those stairs is something important. I will call for backup if anything looks suspicious... I promise..."
Brady nodded in understanding and warned him. "Don't do anything stupid, Maguire..."
Noah grinned slightly and nodded. "You either, Black..."
Noah smiled at Chloe and then turned around to quickly head up the stairs. Brady and Chloe returned back to the original plan, making their way down the hallway quietly until they stumbled across an open door. Chloe's stomach churned and she laid her hand on Brady's shoulder to stop him from going on.
"I don't like the looks of this, Brady... It's all too easy."
Brady reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, and then led her into the room. Besides the two of them, there wasn't a living soul in sight, but that didn't keep the room from being interesting. It was the very definition of a laboratory, looking like something out of a movie about a mad scientist, with gurneys, medical equipment, tubes and vials, and stacks of file cabinets filling every wall and corner. There was a long workstation with a computer on it that was currently turned off.
Brady looked around in amazement and then looked back at Chloe. "Well... would you look at all of this?"
Meanwhile, Noah had fished his small flashlight out of the pocket of his jeans and was making his way up the stairwell. It seemed like there was no end in sight, and that every dark winding corner might hold some new surprise. The stairs seemed to go on forever, and he would have guessed that he had gone up four flights of them before he reached a short hallway that led to a door.
Noah looked at the metal doorknob and quickly broke the lock on it. He made sure to grab his gun out of its holster, and slowly opened the door, guarding himself from whatever surprise was on the other side. The door opened to reveal the attic room that had been in Brady's floor plans of the house. It was sparsely furnished, more like a prison cell than a room.
His eyes scanned the room until they fell on the small bed in the corner. He took a step backwards in surprise; underneath the covers was Princess Greta Von Amberg. She was sleeping peacefully and looked fairly content for a woman who had just been kidnapped. Noah hesitated before walking towards her, drinking in her appearance, making a note of the fact that none of her pictures did justice to her beauty.
Soft static filtered through his earpiece, which signaled the arrival of Chloe's voice in his, hear. "Noah... You won't believe what we've found."
"I was just about to tell you the same exact thing."
Brady interjected curiously. "What -- What did you find?"
"A princess locked in her tower, sleeping peacefully. Just like in all the fairytales..."
"Well, get out of her there, Prince Charming and come back to the basement ASAP."
"Copy that..."
Noah walked closer to the bed and kneeled on the floor beside her. A stray piece of brown hair and fallen over her eyes, and Noah used the tips of his fingers to peel it away. She was even more stunning up close, and Noah felt embarrassed by his thoughts, reminding himself that there were other things to worry about.
He gently shook her shoulder and spoke softly to wake her up, hoping not to startle her. "Greta... Princess Greta... Wake up... Come on... Wake up..."
Greta's eyes fluttered open slowly as she looked up at the face floating above her. She was still somewhat groggy, but she could still make out his handsome features and deep blue eyes. She muttered quietly as she regained full consciousness, confusion and fear beginning to fill her eyes. "Who...?"
"I'm here to..."
Greta's eyes suddenly widened with fear and she sat straight up in bed. Her fingers curled up into a fist and she slammed her fist into the side of Noah's face. He stumbled backwards, holding his hand to his eye in pain and shouting at her.
"Jesus Christ... What did you do that for?!?"
Greta jumped out of the bed and glared at him angrily. "WHO ARE YOU?"
Noah shouted back at her, still half in shock from the force of her punch. "I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU AND THEN YOU HIT ME!"
"What do you want? Do you work for Stefano too?"
Noah removed his hand from his eye and shook his head. "No, I don't work for your father. I'm here to rescue you..."
Greta rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, right... Who are you?"
"My name is Noah... You can trust me."
"No, I can't. How do I know this isn't just another one of his games?"
Noah sighed and handed her the gun that he had been carrying. "Take this and come with me. If I do something untrustworthy, please feel free to shoot me."
Greta stared at the gun in her hand and then looked back up at the handsome stranger in shock. "Shoot you? Really?"
"Yes, really... Listen, Princess... I'm here with some friends of yours. Brady and Chloe. I'm going to take you to them right now... So, trust me or don't, I don't really care. Just follow me, please..."
Greta held on to the gun in her hand tightly and followed Noah out the door and down the stairwell. She didn't know what to think of this man, but the fact that he trusted her to hold a gun on him meant a lot. They went down the four flights of stairs in silence, and when they hit the bottom, Noah tried to contact the others through their earpieces.
"Brady, Chloe... I've got Greta... She's okay. Where are you and what did you find?"
There was a long pause without an answer so Noah spoke again. "Brady... Chloe... Hello? Are you there?"
A crackle came across the earpiece and Brady's voice answered him. Even over their less than perfect connection, Noah could hear the disappointment in Brady's voice. "Noah... We're down the hallway and to the left, in the lab room... And honestly, I don't know if what we found is good or bad..."