FAMILY TIES
      By Spense
 

Chapter Nineteen

Jonny was standing with his mother at the top of the bluff.  The sun
was shining, the afternoon was mild, and the Atlantic Ocean was
brilliant with diamond-like sparkles in the light.  Jonny drank in
the moment, happy to be alive.

Rachel smiled, enjoying the moment with her son.  Her gray-blue eyes
were bright, and her face relaxed.  "Honey?"

"Yeah, Mom?"  Jonny turned from tossing a pebble out over the high
bluff, and looked at her, beaming his lopsided grin.

She smiled back, and held out her arms.  Jonny laughed and hugged her
happily.

His joy turned to stark terror when she began to push him over the
cliff's edge.  "Mom!" He shouted in terror.

His fear doubled as her face suddenly became that of Will's, scowling
at him.  "Get out of my life, you miserable brat!  You're nothing but
trouble.  Whining and sniveling, always wanting your own way."

Jonny scrambled, trying to fight back as he was maneuvered inexorably
towards the edge.  Looking down, he could see the waves breaking
angrily on the rocky shore below, smashing against the cliff side in
a torrent of foam as the sea turned a dark, forbidding gray, and the
light from the lovely summer afternoon faded into an angry clouded
sky.

Jonny looked back at Will in terror, the wind whipping his hair and
clothes.  Now it was his mother again, an odd light in her
eyes.  "You should have died.  Not me.  Everything is always about
you.  You're always in the way.  Your not smart enough, or good
enough to live.  Better if you're out of the way.  Rae will be more
like Benton than you!"

"Here, let me help.  It will get him out of my way, and out of my
life, once and for all!"

Jonny stared in horror as his father moved up besides his mother,
who's face seemed to be alternating between Rachel's and Will's.
Grasping Jonny firmly by the shoulders he pushed him out over the
brink.  "Dad, no!"

Still alternating between Rachel and Will's face, Benton's wife
stepped back wiping her hands distastefully on her jeans as though
she had been touching something foul.  "Thank you, darling."

"My pleasure, my dear," Benton's cool baritone purred smoothly in
reply.

"Jonny."  His father's voice was suddenly different, stronger.

"Quit struggling." Benton said, the chilling purr was back again, "It
will be over soon."

Jonny fought his father's hands, desperately trying to get
loose.  "No!  Let me GO!"

"Jonny!"  Benton's tone had changed again.  Jonny was crying in
frustration and fear now, vainly trying to free himself.  "Jonny,
come on Son.  Calm down!"

Suddenly, Jonny found himself far away from the cliff face, and in
his own dark room at home, fighting his father who was trying to
quiet him.  Still crying and gasping for breath, he realized Benton
was holding him tightly to his chest with one hand around his back,
and the other pressing Jonny's face to his shoulder.  Jonny collapsed
suddenly, sobbing, onto his father's chest as he finally woke up
enough to realize he'd been having a nightmare.  His fingers twined
tightly into the fabric of Benton's robe as though he were afraid if
he let go, he'd fall back into the nightmare.  Benton felt his heart
constrict at his son's action.  Jonny hadn't done that since he was
very small, and then only when he was extremely upset or frightened.

Benton kept murmuring to his son, the words finally penetrating and
slowly disseminating Jonny's dream world, "It's okay Jonny, it's just
a dream.  You're at home.  I'm right here, Son, shhh," the litany
continued, over and over, slowing quieting Jonny's heartbreaking
sobs.  Benton stroked his hair gently.

Benton looked up at a light touch on his shoulder.  Will looked
compassionately at him.  "I'm going to get the medication.  I'll be
back in a few minutes."

Benton, never breaking his quiet words to his son, nodded gratefully.

Will headed back to the suite she shared with her husband, running
into Race on the way.  He had heard the activity and come up to see
if there was something he could do to help.  She assured him that
they were okay, and would he please look in on Rae.  He agreed, and
said he was going to look in on Jessie and Hadji as well.  Reassured
about the other members of the family, Will continued on her errand.

Once in her room, in a corner of the bedroom, she collected a couple
of heating pads, Benton's stethoscope, and one of the syringes that
was set out, already drawn and waiting.  From there, she headed back
to Jonny's room, simmering fury.  Dr. Andrea Veronica Rose Lainer
would pay dearly for this.

Three nights now.  Each night since Jonny had come home, he'd been
having truly horrible nightmares.  They had really debated whether to
bring him home or not.  But with Dr. Lanier on the loose again, Race
and Will just didn't feel they could protect him as well in the
hospital.  And giving into Jonny's demands and telling him what was
happening, in retrospect, had been a very bad idea.  He didn't say
it, but he was terrified.  The nightmares were certainly proving it.

And the nightmares then in turn would set off breathing
problems.  `Keep him quiet' the doctor had told them.  `No stress,
he'll need time to heal, we don't want to set off anxiety attacks'.
Yeah, right.  After the mind games that woman had played with him, he
had absolutely no peace.  There was no way he could relax.  And any
stress caused his breathing to quicken painfully.  The gas had done a
real job on him.

Poor Jonny.  After each episode he was exhausted, slept for most of
the next day, was sore and achy, and often ran a fever.  So much for
healing.  Then, it would all repeat again the next night.  Damm it!
This just wasn't fair.

Sure enough, when she entered the room, Jonny was gasping for breath,
and in obvious pain.  Benton looked completely traumatized as he
tried to calm his upset son.  It was a vicious circle.  The more
frightened and upset Jonny got, the harder it became for him to
breathe.  They'd found the only way to calm him down was a shot of
muscle relaxer and a light sedative.  That, and heat, which also
relaxed the tightened muscles.  The reaction was almost more
emotional now than it was physical.  But his lungs still weren't
totally healed, and this certainly wasn't helping the process.

Will got the heating pads set up, and moved to take Jonny from
Benton.  Unfortunately, they were getting very good at this now.
Will handed Benton the syringe as she detached the gasping boy from
his father and wrapped her arms tightly around him.  He looked at her
with vague eyes as she began talking soothingly to him.  She could
tell he wasn't really awake enough to understand her, but he did calm
some at her voice.  Will was pleased about that.  He'd responded to
her well at the hospital, which went to show that no matter how much
Andrea had eroded of Jonny's trust, she hadn't erased all the strides
Will had made with her youngest and most emotional stepson.

Jonny moaned slightly, his head lying tiredly on her shoulder, as
Benton injected the contents of the syringe into his upper arm.  But
he did begin to relax almost immediately.  After a few moments his
breathing began to ease, and he slipped into a light doze.  He
stirred at the cold touch of the stethoscope as Benton checked his
lungs, but quickly dropped off once again as his father finished.
Once Benton was satisfied that this particular episode was over, and
that Jonny was breathing normally again, he and Will settled the boy
on his side, and arranged the heating pads on his chest and back.
Benton covered him carefully, noting with relief the regular rhythm
of his breathing.  He then joined Will at the window.

He gathered her tiredly in his arms and settled back onto the seat of
the bay window, where he could still see Jonny, and snuggled her
close.

"I can think of several different manners in which I would like to
dispose of Dr. Lainer," Will stated calmly, leaving back against her
husband.

"Really," Benton allowed, nuzzling her hair as the adrenaline drained
from his system.  Between Rae's feeding schedule and Jonny's
nightmares, neither of them was getting much sleep, and that was an
understatement.

"Uhmm-hum.  Fifty ways to kill a person with a hairpin.  But those
are too quick.  Drawing and quartering is more to my taste."

"Oh, bloodthirsty.  Flaying?  Stoning?  Burned at the stake?
Anything remotely similar to what they used for witches?"  Benton
suggested with a weary grin.

"Those are all good.  She's a witch all right."  Will leaned back
against him.  "Poor Jonny.  He doesn't deserve this," she sighed.

"No," Benton agreed, tightening his arms around her.  "Go back to
bed, Rag Doll.  I'll stay with him," he whispered into her hair,
kissing her lightly.

She made a wordless sound of protest.

"Really.  I just need to be with him tonight," he said, the
exhaustion evident in his voice.

She hesitated a moment longer, and he urged, "Go on.  I'll sleep
here, in the chair."  Benton gestured towards the armchair.

She nodded and kissed him deeply.  He laughed softly and shoed her
out of the room.

Will looked back as she exited the room.  Jonny was deeply asleep,
clearly under the influence of the medication.  Jonny had been living
in his own private nightmare, no doubt about that.  That the bitch
had intentionally messed with a young adolescent's mind, and in a
manner most designed to inflict pain infuriated Will.  It had to be
the true definition of evil.  That the boy was Will's stepson
absolutely sent her over the edge.

And frankly, she was worried about Benton.  He didn't look all that
much better.  He could hardly bear to leave Jonny alone, terrified
that he'd lose him.  He almost had too, right under his own nose, and
from a place of relative safety.  That made the whole situation even
harder to take.  The woman had to pay.

Will shut the door behind her, and leaned against the wall,
thinking.  Neither Jonny, nor Benton for that matter, would get a
moments peace until Dr. Lainer was found.  None of them would.  It
had been 5 days now, and the chances of finding her were becoming
slim.

Jonny was far too fragile, both emotionally and physically, to be
able to handle another onslaught by Andrea Lainner right now.  And
truthfully, Will didn't think Benton could either.  Will thought a
bit longer, made a decision, then headed down the stairs, away from
her suite.

She tapped lightly on Race's door.  It opened immediately, and he
ushered her in.

"I was expecting you," he said with a look that asked why she hadn't
come earlier.

"Let's go hunting," she said grimly, and was rewarded with a tight,
unpleasant smile.

"Thought you'd never ask."