Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 17:10:12 -0600 (MDT) From: "Katherine R. Freymuth" Subject: Theresa - Chapter 13 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Chapter 13 Twenty-eight Stories Up "Come on!" Andy ordered, pulling Jeff out of his Mercedes-Benz. "Get going!" he held a gun into his back. "I don't understand!" Jeff exclaimed. "What's gotten into you, Andy?" "Shut up! Now, we're going to go in very calmly. And if you make a sound..." He raised a walkie-talkie into Jeff's sight. "I have my partner kill your pretty little girlfriend." "Jennifer?" Jeff said worriedly. Andy nodded. "Let's go," he told him. Jeff obeyed, leading Andy into the building. "Just act normal," Andy instructed as the two came towards a security officer. He hid the gun barrel behind Jeff. "Hi, Bill," Jeff greeted. "Hello, Mr. Sterling. Working early today?" "Yeah. This is Andrew Stevens, an old classmate of mine," he told Bill as he gave Andy a hidden condemning look. "Reminiscing old times?" Bill asked. "You could say that," Andy answered. He indicated the elevator to Jeff. Jeff nodded, wished Bill a good day and entered the elevator with Andy. "Now, let's see," Andy said, keeping the gun on Jeff. "Your office is on the twelfth floor, isn't it?" He pressed the twelfth floor button and then the twenty-eighth floor button. "Twenty-eight?" Jeff wondered. "You're taking me to the roof! I can't go up there, Andy! I can't!" "You will or you'll kiss your Jennifer good-bye!" The elevator stopped at twelve. The doors opened and closed and the elevator continued its way up to the twenty-eighth floor. Once it stopped the second time, Andy forced Jeff out of the elevator and towards the stairs. "Have you ever seen early morning traffic from the top of a skyscraper, Jeff? It's really the most fabulous view!" Andy tormented, well aware of Jeff's phobia. They came to the stairway door, which Jeff opened at Andy's orders. Jeff swallowed hard before opening the last door and stepping onto the roof. "Well, well, well! Here we are at last!" Andy smiled. "Andy, please!" Jeff said softly with trepidation as Andy started forcing him towards the edge of the rooftop. Sam rushed into the building as Al appeared in the lobby by the elevator. "You've got only seven minutes before Jeff's killed!" Al told him. "Check on him!" Sam ordered. Al punched some buttons on the handlink and disappeared. Sam headed straight for the elevator. "Good morning, Mr. Raj-ad-Allah..." Bill started. "You're... You're..." "Call the police!" Sam told him. "And don't let anybody out of this building until they arrive! Ask for Lieutenant Fulton and tell him to get down here! It's an emergency! Hurry!" Sam finished as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the twenty-eight floor button. Bill stood in astonishment for a moment as the elevator doors closed and the cab started to rise. Al appeared in the elevator by Sam. "Sam, it's definitely Andrew Stevens and he's forcing Jeff towards the edge! Jeff's having a tough time keeping his cool much less talking Andrew out of it!" Sam looked up at the floor indicator above the elevator doors. "Eight more floors, Al," he told him. "Stay with Jeff." Al didn't answer but disappeared on command. He reappeared beside Jeff who was being edged closer and closer to a twenty-eight story drop. "Now, just stay calm, Jeff. Sam's on his way," he said aloud. "Scared of heights, Jeff?" Andrew teased. "Heights can't kill you. But the sudden stop of a fall from them can." "Why are you doing this?" Jeff asked nervously. "That's good, Jeff," Al told him. "Keep him talking." "Why?" Andrew repeated. "Because we know too much," Sam responded from behind. Andrew spun around to see him. "We know the cipher that your uncle put in the encyclopedias," Sam told Jeff. "Cipher?" Jeff asked in confusion. "It told who murdered him," Sam looked at Andrew. "I deciphered it." "Well, actually Ziggy did," Al commented. Sam ignored him. "You know what it said, don't you, Andy?" Jeff's eyes widened. "You, Andy? You killed my uncle and now your trying to kill me? After how long we've known each other?" He sat on the roof surface. "I don't believe it!" "He's been trying to cover his tracks from the start. Your uncle had been cleaning his bookcase when Andy came by the house. He was allowed in as a family friend. But when your uncle learned of Andy's intentions, he thought quickly and put the encyclopedias back in such a way that, if you looked at the letters on the binding, you would read Andy's name. He'd put the last name first out of fear that he wouldn't be able to finish what he was doing. But he did finish it," Sam told Jeff. He turned to Andrew. "And you didn't realize what Joseph Sterling did until after the police had been in the house. So, you returned to the house, armed in case of trouble. You found Jeff and I there and tried to scare us off by firing a few shots at us, thinking that if you had to you'd come in and kill the intruders. You returned later and rearranged the house to hide the evidence against you. But then you learned that we still had the cipher when you came with us to the house. You decided that we would have to be killed as well. That's why you brought Jeff up here." "My god, Chris!" Jeff exclaimed. "You're walking!" Andrew looked at Sam's legs at Jeff's exclamation. His mouth hung wide open at the shock of the sight. "I thought you said he couldn't walk!" Al smiled. "Surprise! Here's your chance, Sam. Now, while he's confused." Al had thought that Sam would kick the gun out of Andrew's hand. Instead, he slowly walked up and took the gun gently away from him. "It's over, Andrew," Sam told him quietly. He looked at Jeff. "Are you okay?" "Yeah," Jeff told him. He was moving away from the edge of the building quickly. It was now quiet enough for everyone to notice the police sirens as squad cars came to the office building. Jeff looked at Andrew. "I don't get it. Why, Andy? He treated you like you were his own son. I treated you like a brother. We grew up together!" Andrew glared at Jeff. "Joseph Sterling stole everything my father ever had! Stevens and Sterling was the one thing he always wanted! My grandfather founded this law firm! It belongs in our family!" "Sam," Al had an idea. "I bet it was HE who was trying to buy the firm, not Edward." "You've been trying to buy Stevens and Sterling in your father's name, haven't you?" "What?" Jeff asked. Al nodded, fiddling with the handlink. "I was right, Sam! Andrew had been embezzling from his father's firm to make the deal but Joe wouldn't sell." Andrew smirked. "I wouldn't have killed him if he hadn't been such a bastard!" Jeff lunged at him in anger. Sam quickly moved to hold him back. "Let him talk, Jeff." "Too late," Al told him. "The cops are here." Lieutenant Fulton came out onto the roof, followed by several officers, including Lieutenant Burke. "Mr. Raj-ad-Allah, what is this about? What's the emergency?" "Lieutenant Fulton," Jeff spoke up. "I want to press charges against Andrew Sterling for murder and attempted murder." "Those are very serious charges, Mr. Sterling. Are you sure?" Jeff looked at Andrew with disdain. "I'm sure." "What are the exact charges?" Burke asked. Sam answered. "The murder of Joseph Sterling and the attempted murder of Jeffrey Sterling." Fulton obliged Sam and Jeff and placed Andrew under arrest, reading his rights. Meanwhile, Sam started helping Jeff back downstairs since Jeff's fear of heights finally came into the open, paralyzing Jeff. "You did it, Sam," Al told him. "Andrew's convicted of murder and attempted murder. And charges of embezzlement also get him into trouble so he's spending a life sentence. And everything works out all right for Jeff too." Sam just briefly nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Why did Andrew kill Joseph?" he asked Al as he and Jeff walked to the elevator. Jeff was far enough ahead of him not to hear the whispered question. "Well, according to Andrew's testimony in court, he found out that Joseph had been embezzling from Edward and made it look as if Edward had gone bankrupt. This allowed Joseph to take over the business which is why Jeff inherited the firm rather than Andrew." As he spoke, the three of them entered the elevator. Sam pushed a button to take them to Jeff and Chris' office. Al pressed some buttons on the handlink to keep the image of the elevator as it went down. "So, as you can imagine," Al continued, "Andrew felt cheated out of his inheritance. So he grabbed his gun, loaded it, and confronted Joseph. The two had a heated argument while Joseph was putting away his encyclopedias. Then Andrew shot Joseph three times in the chest and once in the head. When he realized what he did, he fled as quickly as possible and... well, you know the rest of the story." They were out of the elevator now and walking towards the office. "So, why haven't I leaped?" Sam whispered. "Well," Al said, "it's up to us now. We have to convince Chris that his paralysis is all in his mind so that he can walk again. 'Cause physically, he's pretty healthy. There's nothing wrong with his legs. Besides, you're still not done here. You've got to stay here and give a statement to the police. I'll tell Chris what happened so you won't have to be here for the trial in two months. Al looked up and smiled at the figure running towards them. "Jeff!" Jennifer called out and ran into Jeff's arms. "Oh, darling! I was so worried about you! After hearing what happened!" She kissed him on the lips. "Jeff, are you okay?" "I'm fine, Jen. Just a little shook up is all. Are you okay?" Jeff asked worriedly. "I'm fine. Why?" Jeff smiled with relief. "Thank God you're all right!" Jennifer kissed him again. Al's eyes widened. "Al," Sam whispered. Al wasn't listening. "Al!" Sam repeated. This time Al heard him and looked towards him with a glare. He knew that Sam wanted him to go. Without a word, he opened the Imaging Chamber door, stepped through it, and closed it. "Come on," Sam beckoned Jeff and Jennifer. "Let's talk about this in the office." He started to gently lead them towards the office. Jennifer stopped in astonishment and looked Sam over from head to foot. "Chris!" she exclaimed, dropping the formality she usually had with him. "You're walking!" Sam shrugged. ****************************** "Have you finished Chris' physical?" Al asked Verbina as he entered the Control Room. Verbina nodded. "There's nothing wrong with his legs, like we thought. He just has to learn how to use them again." "What about his seizures? Did you find a reason for them?" Verbina sighed. "Unfortunately, you were right. There is another reason other than a psychological one. Apparently, the accident caused a chemical imbalance in his brain. Everything certain neurons connect, he has a seizure and they're connecting more and more often. If he doesn't get treatment soon, he will die from one of his seizures." Al exhaled in frustration. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 14 next. I'm trying to put these parts out as fast as I can but you have to be patient with me. 28 parts is a lot of parts to type when you're a working student with a time consuming hobby. Kat