Chapter One

The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling
Way down in the valley tonight
There’s a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye
And a blade shining oh so bright
There’s evil in the air and there’s thunder in the sky
And a killer’s on the bloodshot streets
And down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising
Oh I swear I saw a young boy
Down in the gutter
He was starting to foam in the heat
Bat Out Of Hell
MeatLoaf
Words & Music by Jim Steinham

“Open this bloody door, Jackson!” Andrew Hartley demanded as he pounded on it with his fist but it was to no avail. “Open it! I know she’s in there damn you! Open it!” He slammed his fist against the wooden hotel door until it ached.

“Pardon,” a woman said as she came around the corner wearing a maid’s uniform, “but if you don’t stop that I will have to call security.” Her Italian accent was thick but her English was good. “Doctor Jackson left hours ago.”

That was just bloody fucking great, Andy had been trying to track the little bastard down since he woke up and found Callestah missing. “Where did he go?”

“I assure you, I do not know,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I cleaned the room earlier, he tipped me and said good-bye. Now the room is empty so please stop banging on the door.”

“Did he have a woman with him?” Andy asked quickly. “Little strawberry blonde, about yea high,” he held his hand near his chest.

“No, he was alone.”

“Did you see a woman like that with him? At all?” Andy’s voice started to grow in pitch and he took a few steps towards the non-offending maid.

“I already told you, no.” Not liking the look on his face the maid backed away from him. “I don’t know what your problem is, sir, but please you will have to take it elsewhere or I will call for the police.”

“Fine.” Andy tossed his hands in the air and stormed past her to the elevator. When he woke up alone he was positive he’d find her with Daniel Jackson that she must have at least made the attempt to come slithering back to him but now it looked like he was wrong and he was out 2500 Euro to boot! “Little bitch, don’t you worry, love, I’ll find you.” He muttered as he rode the elevator down.

**

Sitting in the Coach section of flight 973 Venice to Denver Daniel Jackson wished he’d bought a ticket in first class then he wouldn’t have the bothersome boy behind him kicking his seat every ten seconds even though his mother was telling him to stop. Then again he bought two Coach seats rather than one First Class seat in the hopes that his wife would be joining him on the trip home. (Of course if he bought that First Class ticket he’d be sitting next to his wife right now since she was at the front plane.)

More than anything Daniel wanted to call her before he left but David insisted that he do not such thing! Daniel was to get on the plane and go home and Fate would sort the rest of it out.

‘Sides, Davy told him, Callie ain’t gone call yew, she ain’t gone get in touch wit yew until she’s back home so we’se best be gettin’ there ASAP. Yew can bet yur bottom dolla’ Danny she’s on her way back to Col’a’rad’a right now.

All Daniel could do was to hope that Davy was right. She looked awful last night, he still couldn’t believe that she’d pulled out that compact and done snorts of cocaine right in front of him! Calla wouldn’t take her relatively harmless little pills in front of him before now she had no problem with just taking out her toot and doing it while he stood there watching her. In the back of his mind he knew that Davy was right, this was Calla’s decision and she had to make it. All he could really do was let her know that he was here and he was ready should she decide to return to him. Other than that all he could do was watch.

And wait.

And hope.

Landing in Denver he waited with the other Coach passengers while First Class and then Business Class disembarked from the plane, he made his way over to the baggage carousel and picked up his suitcase—Calla didn’t go to the baggage carousel she only had the small overnight bag which she’d carried onto the flight—then made his way out the front door across the parking lot where he’d left the Volvo. Fifty yards away from him at the Hertz Rent-A-Car counter his wife was showing the nice woman her driver’s license and renting her own set of wheels. Daniel never saw her when he passed by.

**

Andrew Fucking Hartley was not looking forward to chasing halfway around the goddamn planet after his little protégée with any delight. Except catching her he’d take a lot of delight in that moment. The little trailer trash bitch had the nerve to rob him of all his cash AND his Happy Kit!

Harlot! Bloody little tramp!

Daniel Jackson left Venice early that afternoon on Flight 973 and from what he could tell so had Callestah. What were the chances of that? The good Doctor riding in Coach a mere fifty feet from where she sat behind a closed curtain in First Class.

Gold digger!

Well at least her expensive taste was keeping them apart from one another. They probably didn’t have any idea they were so close to each other for ten hours with no one to interrupt them. Oh well, a good chance slipped by, what else was new?

With that thick vein in his neck pulsating at an alarming rate, Andrew Fucking Hartley popped a few of his own Valium as he sat in the comfortable First Class seat jetting eight thousand miles after her no-good arse. Chances were not good that she was trying to go back to Daniel, if she were she wouldn’t have taken the Happy Kit…well not the ENTIRE thing anyway. Oh for crying out loud! Why couldn’t he wait until New York? Why the hell couldn’t SHE wait until after New York to toss this little hissy-fit? This was really just too much.

On the off chance she were trying to go back to Daniel Jackson and on the even offer chance that he was serious about taking her back well Andy still had his contract and it was iron clad. He still owned her and all her work there wasn’t anything Daniel or she could do about it. If he had to he’d keep their sorry butts tied up in litigation until Kingdom Come then that was exactly what he’d do!

For Criminey sake! Didn’t this stupid fucking jet fly any faster? The vein in his neck pulsed faster. He was only two hours behind them but still it was two hours too much! If nothing else went his way why didn’t the little bitch OD last night? That boot he gave her was enough to make an elephant high. Seemed Goddesses had a very high tolerance for hard drugs. He was so hoping he’d wake up this morning and find her dead in the bed. Just sorry Charlie—oopps Daniel—better luck next time. IF THAT happened he could play the grieving lover, just as he intended to do when they got back to New York. Andy had it all planned out, how everyone would sympathize with him as they paid homage to the late talented but terribly confused Callestah at the New York Museum of Art. He even knew what suit he was going to wear and it would have made for great press coverage…damn.

Something told him that she 1) wasn’t going back to Daniel and 2) after last night, had probably given up what hope she had left. So that left 3…..Andy was pretty sure she was off to Colorado to accomplish that very task and save him the trouble. But if that were so then he had to at least find the fucking body before New York. Knowing her she’d crawl off some place where she wouldn’t be found for weeks. Andy couldn’t take the remotest chance she’d off herself and not be found until AFTER the auction. No if she was going to do it then the press had to see a body BEFORE the auction. MISSING was no where near as good as DECEASED in the headlines or the wallet in this case.

The little wench wasn’t going to cheat him out of anything. Andrew Fucking Hartley always had all the angles covered.

End Chapter One
Tarnished Heroes:Something Happened on the way to Heaven
Continue to
Chapter Two