Shoot To Kill

Robert was outraged. Barker had pushed the wrong man too far. Barker had kdnapped Khaat twice and had nearly killed her twice. He'dd nearly damaged her emotionally beyond repair the first time, and it had left her mute for weeks. This time, he'd nearly starved her to death and had come within just a breath or two of beating her to death. As it was, it was going to take perhaps months this time for her to be fully herself again.

And besides that, what made it worse this time was her being forced to watch Eli being almost tortured to death. Robert understood how very deeply Khaat loved Eli. He was, in virtually every respect, a son to her, and seeing him hurt before her eyes while she was so helpless was almost more than she could bear. She wasn't talking about what had happened to her while she was gone. The many stab wounds, innumerable deep bruises, and many fractures spoke for themselves, representations of a very grim picture. And Eli had had almost identical markings.

Robert was concerned for Khaat more than he had been in a very long time. He truly didn't know if she had the resiliency to snap back this time. He wanted Barker and Greyback caught at all costs, and he didn't actually care if they were still breathing when their bodies reached him or not. He had given Jen a Shoot-to-Kill order and had sent the aurors on perhaps the largest manhunt since they searched for Voldemort. He respected Khaat's desire to try Barker in court, but if Barker turned up dead, Robert would not lose a wink of sleep over it. And he didn't feel any additional warmth towards Greyback either at this stage. Well, Greybacks were a sore subject with him anyway.

So, today, he had sent for Matt and Blaire and a new man, Hershel Layton. He had assignments for them. Layton was a new hire, and he had yet to meet him, but he had come with impeccable qualifications and more than sufficient references. Robert had checked Layton out thoroughly himself. Today, though, he had very special work for them. He had had plenty of tea and coffee brewed and put into thermal pots and brought to his office, with mugs. While his secretary set the office up for the meeting, Robert sat at the desk and worked steadily at the paperwork that Barker's nightmare was creating for him.

Layton was walking through the Atrium at a steady pace. He was taking every inch of the Ministry in and remembering it all. As he passed a few men puzzled over a puzzel he stopped. He gave the puzzle the once over, it was a simple sliding puzzel. He thought for a moment, "Two to the right from the top left corner and then three down." he told them. That was the answer to the puzzel of course. They looked at him strangely as he began to walk away and cheered when they solved it. He grinned to himself and adjusted his hat straight.

Matt was also walking through the Atrium afer flooing his way. He was moving quick and knew well to be so. Robert had called him personally, and to the Ministry as well. Something bad was up and it had to be REALLY bad. He entered the lift with another man with a rather large hat. "Hello." he said to Matt and he smiled. "Hey, nice day isn't it?" he asked him trying to make small talk. "It is nice yes. I love the snow, but I also hate the cold." he said chuckling. "Yeah..." Matt replied trailing off. The lift wasn't moving fast enough for him. Finally they reached the Ministers office and both men got off and walked towards the door.

Blaire was already at the Ministers office before anyone entered the Ministry. He knocked on the door and entered ignoring the receptionist's calls. "Morning Robert, what's up?" he asked with his noted accent. He was wondering what's going on as he took a seat. "Is everything alright? It's not Barker is it? I was wondering why you kept me back...well minus my condition." he said.

"Come in and sit," Robert said seriously. "I'm glad you could all make it. I don't know how much you've seen of the papers, but it is indeed Barker. He's struck again. You knew that his chain of victims, so far as we knew thus far had been Khaat, Sophia, and a student named Naomi Quinn Greyback.

"Well, here are the new developments. Barker struck again. Twice. He took Khaat again. Kidnapped her from her office at St. Mungos and began torturing her again. When Khaat didn't bend, Barker took her son, Elijah Krum and began torturing him too, in front of Khaat to try to break her. We do know that somehow Barker has managed to get Greyback to side with him. Greyback is now aligned with Barker. We don't know how long she's been on his side.

"Khaat and Eli were in Barker's hands for several days. Barker somehow got spooked by the police and he and Greyback are on the run. Actually, the London muggle police force saw them dashing out of a building and couldn't figure out what they were acting so suspiciously about. The police lost Barker but went inside and found Khaat and Eli just barely alive. In fact, they thought Khaat was dead. They told me I was coming to collect a woman's corpse and a wounded man.

"They have multiple injures. Both have multiple stab wounds, countless severe bruises, nearly crushed ribcages, all their fingers are broken, and both of them have both their ankles broken. They're dehydrated and they've lost weight. Khaat was underweight from her first go around with him. Now she's seriously underweight. It is going to take them both some time. Apparently Barker also threatened to kidnap Chase Moor. I've already gotten Chase and put her in hiding at Khaat and Brian's.

"I've set the aurors on the chase already. I've given Jen specific orders about bringing in Barker and Greyback, dead or alive. Khaat is determined she wants them alive. She wants to try them. I've asked you here for several reasons. First, Matt, since Barker took Sophia once already, I want you to keep a tight watch on Sophia. Barker is desperate now. I don't want him having another crack at her. Blaire, Khaat is not able to begin to defend herself if it comes to it. I'd like you to keep her safe until I can discharge her from St. Mungos. Trust nothing. Have her food brought from your place or from Sparks. You know the drill. Layton, We need to get Barker off the streets as soon as we can do it."

Layton nodded continually throughout Robert's information. It was certainly shocking information. When he started his small investigation business he didn't think he'd be tracking wanted criminals. Specifically ones requested by the Minister. He was honoured but was unsure whether he could do it. His investigation skills and mentality skills would be put to test in this challenge. It was like one giant puzzle really, one with a dangerous criminal waiting when he won. He wasn't making any facial expressions and he wasn't speaking, he was thinking. It was sometimes mistaken for ignoring people, but when he thought he didn't move or speak at all.

Blaire on the other hand was sitting up and had slammed his fist down on Robert's desk. "I'm sorry Robert..just well I'm sure you know by now. I have feelings for Khaat." he said through gritted teeth. "And now, I'm pissed..." he muttered. "I'm leaving now, I'll be at St. Mungos if anyone needs me." he said dashing from the room to grab his scarf and jacket. There was no way he was going to let Khaat die! Or even let her be alone, especially during the Christmas season.

Then, there was Matt who was livid. But he was controlling himself rather well. In the inside he was already ripping Felix's head off and Naomi's limbs. But outside he was calm and cool. He was more angry with himself than anything. He had no idea Sophia had been captured, it seemed nobody told him anymore. "Right..well apparently neither Soph nor Emmy tell me anything anymore." he said angrily. "I'll look after Soph. I had no idea though!" he added. "Alright, thanks Robert, I'll be off." he got up and quickly walked outside. As soon as he got outside he yelled and punched the wall, putting a dent in it. He was sure everyone could hear it but he didn't care. His eyes were blood red, he was going to watch Soph but was sure that Felix was going to be killed.

Now Layton was the only one left. "So, Minister. Why have you chosen me personally to go after Felix? It seemed as there was an Auror here..is he different?" he asked him.

"He is different. Khaat has been, well, a bit rattled by Barker taking her twice. She isn't going to feel safe with strangers nearby. I want an auror protecting her specifically. Someone she knows. I do not plan on taking anymore chances with our Chief Warlock. Oh, and so you have the background information, somehow nepotism is running rampant in the Ministry right now. My daughter, my son in law and his sister all work for me. You might as well know. Khaat is legally married, but also legally separated. Her husband and his sister have joined the manhunt for Barker already. Her husband, Rob, still loves her, but, well, Rob is a bit of a free spirit, so they arent' ever going to make that work, I don't think.

"Khaat and her two infant daughters live with Khaat's best childhood friend, Brian Quinn. Brian is, by my request, concentrating his efforts on protecting Chase Moor as well as my granddaughters. I want someone Khaat trusts to protect her. Blaire is a very capable auror, and she likes him and she trusts him. As long as she's in danger and injured, he won't leave her. And he can go a good long while on very little sleep, it seems. Besides that, his restaurant is one of her favorite places and he will be able to find something she'll like to eat. And right now, that's a plus.

"You, well, I need your deductive mind. Your references also speak well of your ability to interact appropriately and diplomatically with the press. This is, as I'm sure you know, a public relations nightmare. I don't want to be doing any more interviews than necessary. This is, after all, my daughter. I don't want people to see how outraged this makes me. I really do need your skills to act as a buffer between me and the press the more this manhunt progresses. I do not want them to see me as merely a vengeful father who is using his position to get revenge. Not that I'm not angry. I am but I also want this done right. Done clean. I will be using you in more than one capacity, if you're up for it."

Layton nodded, he had been thinking again and had been frozen for a good minute befor replying. He was up for it, he looked forward to it. Something inside him was yipping with joy and the other was groaning. This meant he'd need to take time off work. He'd charm the dean once again and get some days off. "Of course I am up for it. I do love a good challenge every once and a while." he told him. "So I suppose I should head to the site where they found Khaat and this Elijah boy." he said standing up. "You can notify my Apprentice Luke or my daughter Flora by Owl if you need me. They will then call me and pass on any message. Any press issues I can handle, it's one of my best qualities." he told him heading for the door.

"Also Minister, might I ask something personal?" he asked him. "What do you want truly done with Felix? Answer honestly, but if you find I don't deserve such information then I can understand." he said his hand on the doornob. He was willing to do anything, the Minister needed him. But he also had a family at home to look after..what would Luke say right now. He'd probably want in on it, he grinned at the thought. Normally Luke would be with him right now. But no, not this time..it was more dangerous than ever before.

"There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect my daughter," Robert said quietly. "She's my only child. Khaat is absolute that she wants and is entitled to try Barker and Greyback in the courts. Personally, I believe that is rather noble of her in a way. I don't know that I feel so noble. However, I do respect her choice. That is the right thing to do. Somehow she has managed to keep it in front of her that it is still important to do the right thing. Either that, or she just wants the satisfaction of being able to have an ounce of control over a man that has controlled her and one of her young healers and her son. I'm not sure which. Either way, I respect that.

"If we get Barker alive, she'll get her wish, and we'll try him in court. If he turns up dead, I will most likely sleep a lot easier at night. Greyback is the unknown element in this. She started out as a victim, but she seems to perhaps be a victim of Stockholm syndrome. She seems to feel that she is in love now with Barker, near as we've learned from Eli and Khaat. If we catch her alive, we'll have to evaluate her to see if she should have mental health treatment or if she needs to be incarcerated. Her father is Fenrir Greyback. Fenrir, if you know anything about the Greyback family, was responsible for my brother being cursed and believed that every human being needed to be a werewolf. So, my thoughts are that I seriously doubt that she ever had a fair chance at life. She probably never ever had any attention at all, positive or otherwise. All it would have taken is for Barker to show any sort of interest, regardless if it was kind or not. She will be the unpredictable link in this whole chain.

"Barker is at least showing some definitive patterns to his character right now that we can see. He's not so much, so far, been into murder, although, he does seem to be rather sadistic. The suffering of others does seem to bring him great satisfaction. Khaat mentioend to me after the first bit with him that he talked about how strongly bent on revenge he is. Part of it is that he's angry at me. The other part, though, was that he believes he just had a rotten childhood, and he may have.

"Do not, though, underestimate Greyback in this whole picture. If you do, it might well be your fatal flaw. If she believes Barker is the love of her life, she may well defend hiim no matter what. She might actually turn out to be the more volitile of the pair."

Layton nodded and without another word, he exited the office. He looked at the dent in the wall and pulled out his wand. He waved it while muttering "Reparo," and then exited the waiting room. The receptionist was far too busy talking on the phone to noticed he had left a note on her desk. He hoped it would get sent in with some paperwork for Lupin. It was a letter explaining that he wasn't sure whether he could do it. And that should anything happen to him, Flora and Luke were to be sent to his best friend Clark. Luke's father and of course, Laytons friend.

He immediately stopped at the aurors office for details about the case and locations to vist and set off. This, was going to be one hell of a challenge...

Robert received Layton's note. He had more confidence in Layton than Layton had in himself. Robert did understand Layton's anxiety about making sure that there were communications to those he loved. It would have been the same thing he might have done himself. Robert was allowing Layton to have full access to the ministry resources.

Barker had been terrorizing wizarding England for much too long. He was a bitter young man who had no conscience and believed that he was entitled to hurt anyone he pleased. He had no ability to understand that causing someone else pain just for his own amusement was never right. Never. Robert had talked to Khaat enough about how Barker thought that he knew that Barker sometimes misstepped. And when he did, it usually allowed openings in order to inconvenience him in a significant way. He hoped that Layton would follow up with Khaat and get some of her insights on Barker and what she knew of the workings of his mind. Although, he had one hesitancy. Unless Blaire was there to vouch for Layton, Khaat would most likely not talk to him. She didn't know Layton from Adam's housecat, and had no reason to let him in on such powerful intell unless she knew he had the rights to have it.