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The doctor now turned around and grabbed Valerie by her feet again. He lifted her up.
As he did so, Valerie felt the feeling returning to her left leg. The tingle had become a complete sensation, but she could still barely move it.
The doctor pulled her close to the mouth of the furnace, and the heat made her sweat. She was terrified.
As he readied to throw her body into the flames, Valerie tried with all her might to regain control. Her hands moved and her fingers flailed, but she was too incapacitated.
This was the end for her.
The doctor pulled her up, and then threw her headfirst toward the open furnace and flames.
As she felt the heat about to consume her, she suddenly felt another sensation. The sensation of someone wrapping their arms around her waist and yanking her backwards away from the killer.
Doctor Whitmore’s face was pallid in the flickering light. He looked like he saw his life draining away before him. His face then curled up into a horrid grimace, and in the flame-light Valerie thought for a moment that he looked like one of Gillian Pugh’s demons.
“Valerie!” Charlie shouted pulling her back.
But Doctor Whitmore turned, grabbed a crowbar from the wall, and struck it toward Charlie’s head. In that moment, Valerie lashed out with the only part of her body she now had complete control of.
She kicked up as far as she could, and the impact thrust the doctor backwards against the boiling hot furnace. He screamed loudly from the pain and tumbled to the side, whimpering in the corner.
Will then appeared from the stairs, having clearly struggled to keep up with Charlie, and he leaped on top of Doctor Whitmore, pinning him to the ground.
When the doctor realized there was no escape, he let out a pitiful cry of anguish and sobbed like a young child.
EPILOGUE
Valerie stepped out of the car outside of her apartment in Quantico and marveled at the outside of the building.
She was home. And she couldn’t wait to go upstairs and see Tom.
Charlie and Will got out of Will’s car.
“Are you going to be okay?” Will asked.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered. “I just need to take a couple of weeks off to recuperate.”
“Might as well,” said Charlie. “What with Jackson under review and all. I think it might be a few weeks before we know if our department is going to continue or not.”
“Do you really think they’ll can the Criminal Psychopathy Unit?” Will asked, his expression pained. It clearly meant a lot to him.
“I don’t know,” Charlie said with a shrug. “Heinlein is a powerful man, and he’s got it in for Jackson. If he has his way, the whole department will be shut down.”
“All the good we’ve been doing ... just cast aside?” Will said, sounding downhearted.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Valerie said. “Let’s try and stay positive for now. Hey, if we all get canned, maybe we should start up a private detective agency?” She joked.
“I’m not the gumshoe type,” Will said.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Valerie. “You’re just more of a Baker Street detective than a hard-boiled PI.”
Will hugged her. “If you need me, call.”
“I will,” she said.
Will nodded and then got back in the car.
Charlie remained on the sidewalk, the autumn breeze moving around them, and turned to Valerie. “You sure you’re going to be all right?”