========================================================================= Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 18:55:38 -0400 Reply-To: JJSWBT@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Wendy Tillis Subject: Isabel 09/13 Isabel By: Wendy Tillis jjswbt@aol.com Copyright April 1996 Part Nine ================= Duncan drove straight home. He didn't see any point in driving around aimlessly trying to pick up the "feel" of another Immortal. He parked and went up to the loft. He made some coffee and sat on the couch waiting for it to brew. He closed his eyes and tried to rest. Was Isabel telling the truth? Had he just let Joe's murderer walk free? He didn't know. Duncan let his head fall back and was almost asleep when he felt the approach of an Immortal. He stood up and reached for his sword. Whomever it was was coming up the elevator. Duncan realized he hadn't locked it last night. He waited and Richie's head appeared as the elevator rose. Duncan relaxed and leaned his sword against the wall near the kitchen. Richie stepped off the elevator looking a little scared and tired. " Mac. Am I glad to see you!" "When did you get back? I though you were in Vancouver?" " I was. I heard about Joe on the news this morning. I couldn't believe it - someone beheaded him? Who did it, Mac, do you know?" " No, I don't know. He was killed in the same area Allan and Grey Buffalo were." Duncan stopped. "It was on the news in Canada?" "Sure. It's a big deal. Headless bodies everywhere? That's sure to make the news." "You're right, of course." The coffee was done and Duncan moved into the kitchen to pour himself some. "Want some coffee?" " No thanks, Mac. But . . you must have some idea who killed him? What about. . Isabel?" "No! It wasn't her. " Richie was surprised by Duncan's vehement denial of even the possibility that Isabel was involved. He wondered what their relationship had become since he had left. Richie wasn't so sure Isabel *couldn't* be involved. After all, there weren't *that* many Immortals in town to chose from. And he had seen her arguing with Allan that day at the Youth Center. "Any chance you could get a message to your friend Adam? Find out what the Watchers are doing - what they know?" Duncan had told Richie that Adam was a Watcher but had not told him that Adam was also Methos. Methos preferred to keep *that* a secret. " He called me- that's how I heard about Joe. He says the Watchers are in a 'panic' but he didn't have any more information. He'll call if he finds out anything" "I'll bet they're in a panic - with two of them dead in the same night. . ." Duncan spun around. "Two? Two Watchers dead?' "Yeah- at least I think so. The news said two headless bodies had been found. One in a car - Dawson's - and another a few blocks away in a warehouse - a woman - some Chinese name- she'd been dead a few days. I forget. The Watchers probably think someone has declared open season." " A Chinese woman? I wonder who she was? This isn't good, Richie. Who ever is doing all this killing is totally out of control. He isn't even trying to hide the bodies. Even the worst of us knows better than that." " What are you going to do , Mac?" " I don't know. There isn't much I *can* do. Maybe Adam will get a lead. It doesn't do me any good to go out looking if I don't know who I am looking for. And I don't want *you* out wandering around either! This guy has already killed four people - I don't want you added to the list - OK?" " I hear you. Don't worry . I'm not going to do anything stupid." Richie smiled and Duncan had to smile back. Duncan knew Richie was capable of defending himself but he still worried, He supposed that "parents" always did - no matter how old the "child" was. " I'm going home. Mac. I'll be there if you hear anything. You'll call?" " Yes. Be careful, Richie. Who ever this is doesn't care who he kills. I would hate to lose you." " Thanks, Mac. You watch your head too. You're not indestructible, you know." Richie headed for the elevator. Once he had gone down . Duncan called the elevator back up and locked it. He went over and stood by the window, it was a pretty winter's day - cold and clear. It didn't seem right that somewhere out there was a homicidal maniac. Duncan stood drinking his coffee and wondering what to do next. Duncan spent the rest of the day at home. He paced around the loft for hours. He called his contacts in the police and at the TV station. He paced some more. When that got to be too much he went downstairs and worked out until he was too tired to move. Then he came back up stairs and began to pace again. Richie called just before dinner time to say that he was going stir-crazy. Duncan suggested he come over for dinner and Richie gratefully accepted. By 6:00 pm they were in the kitchen, making dinner. Richie had become quite a good cook in recent years. First Tessa, and later Duncan, had encouraged him to try his hand at cooking and he had surprised them, and himself, by being good at it. Now, he was sautiing shrimp in white wine while Duncan assembled a fruit salad. The pasta was cooking and the wine open. Duncan moved to drain the pasta as Richie declared the shrimp done. Just as Richie spooned the last of the shrimp onto the waiting bed of angel hair pasta, they both froze as they felt an Immortal nearby. They looked at each other and then both moved for their swords. The intruder was downstairs in the dojo. The elevator was down at the dojo level but it was locked. Duncan was just about to go down the stairs to meet the Immortal when they heard a familiar voice shouting up at them through the elevator shaft. " MacLeod! Be a sport and unlock this thing" "Meth . . Adam?" Duncan caught himself before he said too much. " Yes, it's me. Come on. Let me up." Duncan unlocked the elevator and Adam soon appeared . He flashed a grin at both Richie and Duncan and headed for the kitchen and the refrigerator. He grabbed a beer and sat down on the couch, stretching his long legs out on the coffee table. Duncan looked at him fondly but with some exasperation. " You could have let me know you were coming. How did you get away? I thought the Watchers had everyone buttoned down safe." "The did have. But I threatened to quit if they didn't let me leave - so they did. They'd rather have me here than have to deal with my quitting. Watchers who quit make HQ very nervous. In fact sometimes it makes them so nervous that they do something rash. " "I'll bet" Duncan responded. He had seen how Watchers dealt with renegade members of their group. A 45 caliber slug to the back of the head was not uncommon. "Anyway. I hopped down to the airport and chartered a jet. And, here I am." Richie spoke up. " Did you find out anything - do the Watchers have any idea who killed Joe and the others." " Yes they do, but they're not talking. I tried all night to break into their secure channels but I couldn't. As soon as Joe died, they shut down the system , changed all the passwords, totally scrambled some files. I used to be able to see *everything* up to and including the Secretary General's private e-mail. Today I'm not sure I could access my own files. It will take weeks to hack back into the system. In the mean time - we're on our own." " Damn." Richie swore. "Still and all, we ought to be able to narrow the field some. After all, there are only a handful of Immortals about and two of those are dead. We just need to decide who had a reason to kill the others and Joe too." " Don't forget that other Watcher too." Richie added. " Other Watcher? Who?" " A woman - Chinese name" Methos thought for a minute. "Sarah Lao? Bugger! She joined the Watchers about the same time I did. She was assigned to Grey Buffalo, I think. Where, when was she killed?" " The police found her in a warehouse near where Joe was killed. I called a friend at the police department. He says they figure she was killed around the same time Grey Buffalo was, late Wednesday night. She probably saw who did it and got caught." Duncan answered. Methos looked thoughtful. " So, who does that leave as a suspect. Assuming , of course, that neither of you wants to confess?" Methos smiled wanly. " I think it was that nun, Sister Gabriel." Richie blurted. "No!" Injected Duncan even as Methos stated to speak. "Sister Gabriel? Who is she - what's her real name." " "She didn't do it." " Isabel!" came the simultaneous answers of Duncan and Richie. Richie was on his feet pacing the room and Duncan had looked down at his hands or one of them might have seen the expression of recognition that flitted across Methos' face at the name Isabel. As it was, by the time Duncan looked up, Methos had a studied look of ignorance on his face. " Isabel?" Methos asked. " What do we know about her?" " She didn't do it. I asked her and she said she didn't. I believe her. It was someone else. It had to be." Duncan was up now too, prepared to defend Isabel's 'honor' to the two other men. " Come on, Mac." Richie said. " It could be her, it almost *has* to be her. I know she's your friend but. . . there isn't anyone else." " I told you, Richie. I asked her. She said no. I believe her. It was someone else." Duncan repeated. Methos carefully said nothing. He was running the implications of this revelation over in his mind. Isabel. Hmmm. This could work out well. He had a score to settle with Isabel. Duncan stopped pacing the room and looked at his watch. It was 7:00pm. " Look. I have to go out. I need to take my suit to the dry cleaners if it's going to be clean for Joe's . . funeral. You two are welcome to stay here until I get back. It won't be long. Don't drink all the beer." And Duncan looked significantly at Methos, who smiled innocently back. After Duncan had left, Richie and Methos sat in silence for a while .They were both aware, as Duncan had been, that the dry cleaners had been closed for hours. Duncan had just needed some fresh air. Richie went back to the dinner they had left sitting at "Adam's" arrival. He picked up his plate, carried it back to the couch and started to eat. Methos/Adam went over and looked at the food. " Go ahead, Adam. Grab a plate, there's enough." " Thanks." Methos took a plate and filled it. Then he came over and sat down next to Richie. " MacLeod really likes this woman, this nun, eh?" " Yeah. I mean, I don't think its anything *more* than friendship - she is a nun! But he spends a lot of time with her. They talk. I think it's sort of like the way it was with Darius. She's older and he can discuss his problems with her. I met her twice, she'd very nice. Soft spoken. Calm." " Hmm. But *you* think she could have killed Joe - and the others?" "Well, who else? All the killings were right near her apartment. I think . . I think Mac doesn't want to consider that it might be her. I guess I don't blame him." " Our Highland friend has an outmoded code of honor, Richie. He still sees women as 'special', as different from men. He wants to put them on pedestals, protect them." Methos shook his head. "It's a nice thought but it's dangerous." Richie thought back to what he knew about Mac's relationships with female Immortals. Adam was right. Duncan always tried to see the good in them, always tried to give them a second chance. If this nun was really a stone-cold killer, Duncan might not see it until it was too late. " You don't think Duncan would kill Isabel if he had to?" Richie asked. " No, I don't. You remember how he was with Kristin." Richie flinched a little at that memory. " Duncan had her down and let her go. She would have taken his head if I hadn't killed her." Methos shifted the facts slightly to his own ends. " He just can't bring himself to behead a woman. I think he's only done it once in 400 years and he wouldn't have done it that time if his survival reflexes hadn't taken over. I wish . . . ." Methos paused. " You wish what?" Richie asked. " I just wish there was some way to protect him from himself. But. . I guess there isn't." Richie looked thoughtful and Methos decided not to push any harder, the seed had been planted. Time to let it grow a bit. " Look Richie. I need to go find a hotel and check in with what's left of Joe's organization here. If I learn anything, I'll call MacLeod. Tell him that, OK?" "Sure, Adam. I will. " Richie was still thinking of what Adam had said. " See you tomorrow?" "Yes, tomorrow. Adios." Adam left. Richie stayed a few minutes longer, than he left too. He wrote a note to Duncan telling him what Adam had said. He had a lot to think about and he didn't want to spend the evening arguing with MacLeod about Isabel. ======================== End Part 9