Annie's Diary Prologue

Amid the constant chatter and clanging of dishes, pots, and pans, no one overheard the phone conversation that took place in the tiny office. The short man had left the door open after hastily entering with his urgent news.

"They are here," he said into the mouthpiece. "Yes, I agree. It is the only way…I will see to it that their meal is delayed…I understand," his final words said, he hung up the phone and proceeded to greet his customers.

Part 1

1:00pm

The taxi door opened as Peter tumbled onto the pavement like a rag doll in front of the red brick building. There were screams from a female pedestrian as Peter landed at her feet, his face and body distorted with pain and broken bones.

The driver came around the taxi after throwing it into park. He and others stood around the injured man, stunned motionless.

An officer, who had been entering the building, shouting inside the precinct for 911 to be called then rushed to his fellow comrade's side. Another officer rushed out the door when she heard the scream and shout for help. It wasn't hard to recognize the detective's face. Though it was bloody, he was well known as a friend to his co-workers.

Peter lay curled up on his side, agony written on his asphalt eaten face. Blood trickled from the hundreds of little cuts on his cheeks and from the corner of his mouth. A larger cut at his temple had split open again from his tumble.

"Better get the Captain," the female officer said to a fellow employee as more officers came out of the building, curious about the alarm. Kneeling beside Peter, she wiped away some of the blood from his lips with a handkerchief from her pocket.

"He told me to bring him here," the taxi driver explained, trying to make sure everyone knew he had no part in the beating of the officer. "He showed me his badge…" he trailed off when no one paid him any attention.

A big man broke through the crowd that had gathered around the fallen man. "Break it up!" Chief Frank Strenlich ordered. When he finally saw the identity of the person lying on the ground, writhing in pain, he paled. "Make sure an ambulance is on the way, Tucker."

"Peter?" Can you hear me?" Frank asked, taking his suit coat off and placing it under Peter's head, ignoring the drops of blood that fell on the gray material.

Another man pushed his way through the crowd. "Excuse me," he said as he maneuvered people out of the way. "Oh my God," were his last words as he quickly kneeled beside Peter, taking the female officer's place.

"Peter?"

"P-Paul?" The words were croaked out, pain causing him to stutter.

"It's OK, Son." Paul gently stroked his fingers through the younger man's hair, taking in the blood and swollen features on his foster son's face and hands. When Paul's hand came across a sticky patch of hair on the back of Peter's head, he froze.

"I need you to lay still Peter, okay? Just lay still. An ambulance is on the way," Paul soothed, looking at the blood that encrusted his son's fingers.

"G-got t-to ge-get Mom. Agh!" Peter's sentence was punctuated by stabbing pain to his ribs as he tried to get up, but the pain stopped him.

Paul was known for keeping his cool under pressure, only allowing a certain few to see his emotions. Peter's statement changed that. Clinching his fists, Paul stood and turned his back to Peter, unaware of the pleading eyes his foster son held on him. "Damn it, everyone get back. Tucker, where's the ambulance?" Paul shouted, waving his arms to move people back.

"Annie was with you?" Frank broke in.

It hurt too much to talk so Peter nodded his head, as his stomach gave up its contents - the lunch he and his foster mother had shared earlier.

Hearing the vomiting, Paul pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and knelt back down, wiping the mess away from Peter's mouth, whispering words of comfort.

"Where's Annie, Peter? Can you tell me?" Paul tried to ask the question without fear lining his words, but found it impossible. He might loose his son and his wife both. 'No, can't think that.'

"I-I h-hid her. Sh-she's s-safe. I-I wouldn't t-tell them wh-where she w-was." His energy was slowly fading; darkness and pain made him shrink further into himself. A slight smile to his lips, Peter remembered asking the restaurant owner to do him a favor.

An approaching siren was heard as Frank barked orders to remove the crowd of onlookers.

"Peter, where were you?" Paul asked.

Trying to ignore the pain, Peter tried to answer. "Ch-China," the words were whispered and weak.

"Chinatown? You went there to eat lunch?"

All Paul received in response was a slow nod.

Two officers assisted with guiding the ambulance as it backed up to where Peter lay.

"D-dad?"

"S-hhh. It's going to be all right. The ambulance is here," Paul soothed, again running his fingers through Peter's hair, but avoiding the blood and indentation of Peter's skull.

Peter struggled to sit up, only to have hands push him back down and pain intensify. His breathing grew rapid and ragged. "D-Dad, got-got to get M-Mom."

"Frank'll find her. Slow down your breathing," Paul encouraged.

Paramedics rushed to Peter's side and began working getting vital signs and assessing injuries. They worked around the immovable force of Captain Blaisdell.

"You f-find her," Peter's words were muffled by the stiff green plastic oxygen mask that was placed over his mouth and nose.

"I won't leave. Hold my hand, that's it." Paul slipped his hand into Peter's and felt his son's grip tighten as the pain that radiated through Peter's body attempted to exit through the clasped hands.

Gauze was placed on the back of Peter's head as a cervical collar was manipulated around his neck. IV needles were inserted into his flesh, flesh that was quickly turning a waxy white color.

The paramedics then placed the injured man on a backboard and loaded him onto a stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.

Paul let go of Peter's hand during the transfer, but quickly grasped it again as he climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat on the long bench that lined one side of the vehicle. Before the doors closed, he looked at his second in command, locking eyes, knowing Frank would understand the unsaid plea to find Annie.

As Frank watched the ambulance depart, his mind started reviewing what had happened, niggling at him that he was leaving out a piece of the puzzle that was before him. Turning, he saw the yellow taxi with its strip of white and black checkerboard around the sides and back and the driver leaning up against it.

"Did I hear you say you brought Peter here?" Frank walked up to the driver, who was still pale and staring at the blood and fluid streaked on the ground.

The thin man stood, unable to avert his eyes to the large detective. "Y-Yeah. H-He just walked o-out in fr-front of my car." Stopping, the man took a deep breath, feeling his cheeks warm from the stuttering. "He showed me his badge…and told me to bring him here."

"Was there anyone around him? A woman with sunglasses? Anyone chasing him?"

The man thought hard, trying to recall anything odd, other than someone getting in front of his cab. "No, I-I can't remember anything."

Letting out a deep sigh, Frank nodded. "Okay, let me get your name. Where did you pick him up at?" "In Chinatown. Uh, Oakman, near Maple."

Frank wrote down the information. "Call me if you remember anything." Frank handed the man a card with the precinct's number and Frank's name then went to find his car and start looking for his friend.

Annie Blaisdell continued to hold onto the small hand that led her down a small corridor, then, by the change in the sound of their footsteps, into a larger room. A difference in temperature and warmth to her face told her the light was on in the room they had entered; light that had been missing during their long journey. Foreign words met her ears on their trek, allowing her to forget the minutes up to the time of her escape. She had trusted Peter when he told her to go with the young woman, Lo Ma. Reaching back with her other hand, Annie sat into the cushioned chair the arms and back of which seemed to envelop her. This lack of movement caused her mind return to what seemed like an eternity ago. She and Peter had been having lunch, discussing the surprise birthday party for Paul. He'd turn 60 this year and had been feeling somewhat down about his age.

A voice broke into her memory with what Annie could only guess was Chinese. She recognized Lo Ma's voice as she gave answer to another female stranger whose low alto voice Annie didn't recognize. The stranger spoke with anger and mistrust as Lo Ma spoke in a soothing tone.

Annie had trained her ears to identify people's voices and steps since she could not see their faces or stance to know their mood. It had come in handy over the years, dealing with Paul's daughters then their foster son, and again now. She could feel the other woman's fear of the intruder and wished she could understand what the two women said, though Annie knew she was the topic of conversation.

Being ignored left Annie once again alone, able to wonder if her leaving Peter had been the right decision.

**Flashback

"Mom," Peter's words were calm but desperate. "I need you to go with Le Ma. She'll take care of you, Okay?" He clasped her hands in his and she felt the slight nervousness of his long fingers vibrate into her hands.

"But Peter," she responded, "tell me what is going on."

"I think we are being followed. Look, I'll explain things later, just please, do this one thing, Okay?" Peter lifted one of his hands, kissing her exposed fingers tenderly. He then placed her hands in those of someone small and delicate.

Annie hesitated, pulling back from the tug on her. "Peter?"

"Please, Mom," he once again pled, then Annie heard him talk to the person beside them. "Bai tuo, zhao gu ta. Please."

Giving in, Annie stood and walked swiftly with her guide, somehow avoiding the tables and chairs and other patrons of the room.

**end flashback

Annie's reverie was interrupted when Le Ma came over to her. "Madam wish for tea? Food?"

Smiling, Annie started to deny the offer, then her stomach growled, letting her know it didn't appreciate the shortened lunch. "Thank you, Le Ma. Can you tell me where we are and who else is in here?"

Le Ma hesitated, looking quickly at the other woman and getting a shake no in response to Annie's question. "You are safe here. Please, eat. You will need your rest for the journey ahead of you."

Her words were foreboding to Annie's ears. "What journey? Le Ma, where is Peter? What's going on?" Annie's mind processed the questions so quickly that her host didn't have time to answer them.


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