Love is Blind
Several patrol cars were parked outside an apartment building, blue lights flashing, radio communication going back and forth, people walking in and out. Another car pulls up; the driver steps out, flashes his badge and is let into the restricted area.
"Nice outfit, Hunter, who died?"
"Very funny, McCall. For your information, I happen to have a life this weekend."
"Dating Sonia again, huh?" she answered, in a sarcastic tone of voice.
"We were having a nice dinner at Luigi's. Until you called," he added pointedly.
"Well, you are a homicide cop and we have a homicide here." McCall refused to take the bait and lifted the sheet that covered the body of a guy they had been investigating for a while.
"Frankie Stone. There goes weeks of surveillance," Hunter sighed.
"Yeah, but I got a pretty good idea who did this."
Hunter looked at his partner questioningly, "What do you mean?"
"C'mon Hunter, has this girl taken control of your brain? This is clearly his cousin's MO; he's out on parole at the moment and this was his last violation."
"You're right, I should have seen it. Why don't we pick him up now?"
"Finally, he's making sense."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the car on their way to Frankie's cousin Darryl, Hunter turned to McCall, "Why are you acting so jealous?"
"Jealous? Me?"
"Yeah, making those remarks back at the scene."
"Hunter, believe me, I'm not jealous. There's just something about this woman that I don't trust."
"You've only met Sonia once; when she picked me up from work last week. That was five minutes. How can you judge someone you've only seen for five minutes?"
"Call it intuition, call it what you want. I don't trust her."
Silence fell in the car and a few minutes later they arrived at the building where Darryl was living. As they got out of the car, they saw Darryl leaving the building.
"Darryl Brown?"
"Yeah, who wants to know?"
"Police," they both flashed their badges.
Darryl made a run for it and rushed into the alley next to the building he had just left.
"I'll go after him; you take the other alley and cut him off!" Hunter yelled at McCall as he took off.
She took out her gun and did as told. Just as she expected, she ran into Darryl in the other alley. "Hold it right there. Police. Keep your hands where I can see them!" She yelled, pointing her gun at him.
"Nice catch, partner," Hunter tried to clear the air, "Cuff him."
"What do you mean cuff him? Am I under arrest?" Darryl protested.
"Yes, you are." McCall answered.
"What for?"
"Suspicion of murder."
"And who is this person I supposedly murdered?"
"Your cousin, Frankie. Now come with me." McCall directed him to the parked car.
"You know, you don't have to act jealous just because you don't like Sonia," Hunter continued their earlier conversation.
"Don't start that again, Hunter. I told you how I feel about this woman, period."
"Just my night. Arrested for something I didn't do by two arguing cops," Darryl moaned.
"Shut up!" it sounded simultaneously.
Darryl decided the best way was to shut up and work with them.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McCall slumped in her seat with a huff. Hunter clenched his jaw and drove in silence, still trying to figure out where his partner was coming from. He had only been half joking when he had accused her of being jealous. After all, she was the one who said that she wanted a husband and kids, but not if said husband was a cop.
He gritted his teeth. A cop. That's what he was. And a pretty damn good one, if he did say so himself. And one who also wanted to be a husband and a father.
He had fallen for his beautiful partner almost immediately and was inordinately pleased to discover that along with her beauty, she brought intelligence, a quick wit, and great police skills to the table. She was a perfect partner and an incredible friend and Hunter knew that, right now, he'd do everything in his power to maintain that special friendship and continue to be her partner, the cop.
It sure as hell didn't mean that he had to give up his personal life. She certainly didn't.
(So, what was her problem?) He brooded.
Next to him, McCall berated herself for acting so foolish. What was she thinking? She had no romantic ties to Hunter. He was the best friend that she could have ever asked for, always there for her, no matter what. Just two weeks ago, when she'd gotten a bad case of food poisoning, he'd never left her side. Even when she was hanging over the toilet, retching and gagging, he'd brought cool cloths and helped her back to bed. They'd been there for each other during some pretty scary times and she knew that on some level, she loved him. But her promise not to marry a cop hung between them.
After she'd gotten through the worst of her illness, he'd gone on to work, continuing the surveillance on Frankie Stone without her.
She paused. That's when Sonia had entered the picture. Hunter had met her while she was at home recuperating; not well enough to go to work but not ill enough to have Hunter hovering all day.
Sonia worked for a travel agency whose office was located in the same building that Frankie Stone had his office.
McCall massaged her neck, as she stared out the car window. She had nothing on Sonia, and unless she wanted to drive Hunter away, she knew that she had better back off. She made a promise to herself to remain vigilant though.
(Hunter's eyes might be romantically clouded, but mine are wide open.)
Darryl watched the two cops in the front seat, curious by their silence. Finally, he couldn't stand it, despite his earlier decision not to get into further trouble.
"Lover's quarrel?" he piped up, feigning innocence. 'What's the matter, all this activity spoil your romantic evening?"
McCall groaned silently and rolled her eyes.
"Knock it off, Darryl," Hunter snapped, "Or I'll have you rooming next to your late cousin."
Darryl smirked knowingly. (Yeah, right. All talk – that's probably what's wrong – all talk and no action.) He smothered a laugh.
The car came to a sudden screeching stop, McCall was thrown forward but luckily her seatbelt and hands prevented her from smashing into the front window. Darryl was thrown against her seat,
"What the..." he mumbled and crawled back onto the seat.
"What's so funny?" Hunter had turned in his seat and looking straight at him. He had caught Darryl's amusement at their expense and his growing frustration was spilling out.
"Nothing man! Just something I thought about. What's with you driving like this?"
"I don't want to hear another peep out of you the rest of the way, understand!"
"No sweat man. I'm too young to die like this." Darryl realized he had hit a sore spot and the look on the cop's face told him to cut his losses and let it go.
Hunter turned back to start the car when he noticed his partner, fire shooting out of her eyes.
"What the hell were you thinking!" she hissed, adding a little more to an already tense evening.
Knowing anything he was about to say would make the atmosphere in the car explode, he mumbled a quick 'sorry', put the car into gear, and drove off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the precinct, Darryl was dropped in an interview room.
"If you think I'm gonna interview this guy now, think again. I've had enough for today. I'm going home," McCall announced. She grabbed her purse and left Hunter standing.
"What's with McCall?" Captain Devane wanted to know.
"Don't know. Bad day I guess," Hunter answered as he watched her get on the elevator. Inside, he knew he was right about her being jealous, he was sure about it.
"Want some help with interviewing this guy?"
"Yeah, thanks Charlie."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the early hours of the morning, Hunter crawled into his bed next to his new found love. Sonia rolled over to her other side and looked at him.
"Hi, did I wake you?" he said softly.
"Kinda, but I don't mind. You took your time."
"Catching killers takes time my dear. Although catching this one was pretty quick. Turned out the victims cousin shot him; he confessed to the murder an hour ago."
"Good work. Your partner must be happy too."
"She wasn't there; she went home after we brought him in. We had a bit of a falling out."
"What about?"
"Her jealous behavior towards us, having a relationship."
"Are we?"
"Well, we've been together too long for a one night stand; so it must be."
"Then you better get over here and prove it to me."
A passionate kiss was the beginning of a passionate night.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next morning, Hunter was the first at his desk; Charlie saw him come in and called him into his office.
"McCall is gonna be a bit late; she had to go see the doctor first. The report on Frankie Stone's murder will be on my desk by the end of the day, I presume?"
"Yeah, no problem. Did she say what was wrong?"
"No, but you can ask her; she just walked in. Oh, and Hunter, sort out your differences."
"We will."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Did Charlie tell you I went to see the doctor this morning?" McCall asked him, as he sat down on the corner of his desk.
"Yeah, he did. What's wrong?"
"A bruised shoulder thanks to the stunt you pulled last night. I hardly slept because of the pain."
"I'm sorry."
"Think before you act," she replied, as she sat down and started on her work.
"How did it go with Darryl last night?" McCall asked, a few minutes later.
"You were right; he confessed that he shot Frankie. He did it out of jealousy; Frankie had it all in his eyes. The woman, the cars, the money. They got into an argument, Frankie wanted to throw Darryl out of his apartment but Darryl pulled out a gun and shot him."
"Throwing his life away for wanting something that was never going to be a part of his life. Stupid kid," she sighed.
"Yeah," Hunter agreed, almost absently, suddenly finding his thoughts turning to Sonia and waking up with her in his bed.
McCall fingered several loose paperclips on her desk, unable to look at him; her own thoughts in turmoil. (Was Rick right? Was she only jealous? Or did she truly have his best interests at heart?)
She suddenly felt unsure of herself and her initial reaction to Sonia. It bothered her in a way that almost made her afraid. The ache in her right shoulder flared and she rubbed at it without really thinking about it. She remembered her behavior yesterday and felt guilty all over again. (I probably deserve this,) she thought morosely, her cheeks burning. (Rick had every right to be irritated.)
Hunter's attention returned to his partner. It seemed to him that she was miles away, not really aware of the look of discomfort on her face as she tried to massage her bruised shoulder. He hoped she was telling the truth about the extent of her injury, then thought about his childish behavior that had caused it.
His inner child wanted to explain to Charlie – "she started it", but he shook his head. (Not true,) he refuted the immature words. (That's no excuse.) He knew he was lucky it hadn't been worse.
"Rick – "
"DeeDee – "
They spoke simultaneously and stopped surprised.
"You first – " they said in unison and finally laughed. The ice was broken.
"Rick, I'm sorry," McCall blurted, before she lost her nerve.
"No, I'm sorry," Hunter interjected, just as anxiously.
Remembering not to use her injured arm, McCall reached out a hand. "I didn't mean to jump on you this morning. I'm so sorry. I just didn't sleep well – "
"Because of my stupidity," Hunter cut her off, taking her hand in his and ignoring the looks from their fellow officers.
McCall shook her head. "No. Don't say that."
Conscious of the curious stares around them, Hunter gently tugged her to her feet. "Come on, McCall. You look like you could use some coffee."
Flashing a quick smile, McCall stepped towards the door, feeling Hunter's large hand across the span of her lower back, guiding her out. Resolutely, she pushed all thoughts of Sonia aside. Hunter wasn't mad at her. Maybe he understood.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
That evening, when Hunter pushed open his front door, he found Sonia waiting for him, curled up on his favorite lounger, watching TV.
"Just in time," she said, happily, getting up to greet him at the door with a kiss, then moving to the kitchen.
"In time for what?" Hunter asked, following her and noticing the table set with candles and a small bouquet of daisies. At the same time, the rich smell of Mexican food filled his nostrils.
"Wow! This looks great!" he said, catching sight of enchiladas, rice, beans and a large bowl of tortilla chips and salsa.
"Dig in," Sonia encouraged him, pulling out two Corona beers from the fridge. "I've got a surprise for you."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next morning, McCall arrived first, which in itself, was unusual. She puttered around aimlessly, until Hunter sauntered in, fifteen minutes late and grinning broadly.
A dozen, not-so-nice remarks surfaced, but she refused to give them voice, remembering her promise to be the very best friend that she could be.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Sonia got a free weekend in San Francisco for us. Well, room and board, anyway. Perks of the job!" His eyes had lit up and he rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation.
"Sounds like fun," she managed; unable to match his enthusiasm, but not appearing anything but happy for him. She was determined not to give him any reason to doubt that she had his best interests at heart. "Let me get us some coffee."
Mentally, she cheered herself for taking the high road, like a mature adult, as she grabbed hers and his coffee cups and headed for the coffee pot.
(Maybe I can do some digging on our good friend Sonia while you're gone) she thought.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Friday couldn't have come quick enough for McCall. Sonia had come to the precinct to pick Hunter up so they wouldn't have to waste another minute in LA.
Just as they were about to head for the elevator McCall took out her camera, "Turn around and smile," she said and as they did, she took a snapshot. "That's for the holiday scrapbook. Have fun."
"We'll send you a postcard," Hunter called out to her as they got on the elevator and the doors closed, leaving her standing there, waving the Polaroid picture she had just taken.
(Computer room here I come.) McCall thought as the image on the picture became clearer.
She had planned this carefully during the week, taking the picture was the easy part. Finding out Sonia's last name proved to be more complicated. Hunter's notorious 'black book' only had her first name, but it also had her phone number. When McCall checked it she came up with nothing; she couldn't get the info she needed due to a special privacy policy.
(Damn) she thought, but then a phone conversation Hunter had the other day sprung to mind. He was confirming a reservation he had made,
"Yeah that's right, a trip for two. Mr. R. Hunter and Miss S. Carter. Okay, thank you."
(Carter, that's it), she scribbled the name down on a piece of paper and headed for the computer room.
After logging in she entered the name into the system and waited. "No match found" it read after a few minutes. (Great.) She scanned the picture into the computer and uploaded it into the specialized law enforcement databases.
To her surprise she got one a few hours later. Working her way through a pile of paperwork, she was interrupted by the phone.
"McCall, homicide."
"Hello, this is Det. Stewart, 14th squad NYPD. You wanted some info on one Sonia Carter?"
"Yeah, I do. That's a quick response."
"I was going through the database earlier and this popped up. I think I can help you."
"Great, what have you got?"
"Two months ago I was working on the case of a guy who was shot in broad daylight while he was waiting for his date. This date showed up five minutes after we arrived and turned out to be your Sonia Carter or Sonia Saunders as she introduced herself to us. I got the impression she knew more about the murder than she let on but was never able to prove it. Later I found out that the guy had a contract out on him by a local mob boss, only he hired someone to do the dirty work for him so I had nothing to hold him on. I'm almost certain Sonia was the one that pulled the trigger but she disappeared before I could question her." He paused for effect.
"You better find out who she's after before this person gets killed."
"I will, thanks for the info and I'll let you know as soon as I get her."
"No thanks, good luck."
McCall hung up the phone, an awful feeling crept over her a second later. (She has to be after Hunter and this romance is the perfect cover. I knew she wasn't to be trusted but how am I gonna convince Hunter that he's in danger?)
McCall thought long and hard about it and decided to let Charlie in on what she had just found out.
She gathered her notes up and made her way through the squad room to Devane's office. When her knock went unanswered, she felt a trickle of unease.
"Hey, McCall."
She turned to see Brad making his way to her.
"Captain's gone."
"Gone?" She echoed with dismay.
"Well, yeah." Brad was puzzled by her reaction. "It -is- almost ten o'clock on a Friday night, you know."
McCall did a double take. She had been so engrossed in her investigation that she had lost all track of time.
"Why are you here so late, anyway?" Brad asked, curious. "You trying for some overtime without Hunter?"
"Uh – yeah –" McCall answered vaguely, already trying to figure out her next step. "Uh – listen – thanks, Brad, but – uh – I've got to get going."
She went back to her desk for her purse, fumbling quickly through the papers on Hunter's desk for any more clues, and then all but ran out. "See you Monday," she called out without looking back.
She was gone, leaving Brad staring after her, dumbfounded. "Now what the hell was that all about?" he muttered to no one in particular.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McCall was in her car pulling out of the parking lot, when she realized that she still didn't know where she wanted to go, exactly. She watched traffic go by as she tried to decide. She remembered that she had gotten Sonia's current address and before she was consciously aware of it, she was making a right turn and on her way to Sonia's house.
The street Sonia lived on was a wide winding road that paralleled the beach. The neighborhood was a series of tract houses virtually indistinguishable from each other. They were all ranch style stuccos painted various shades of blue with either a darker blue or white trim. At this time of night, most of the houses were dark and the few street lights she saw were mostly obscured by huge palm trees.
She found Sonia's house readily enough and parked across the street. She sat in her car for almost twenty minutes, turning her lock picking kit over and over in her hands, staring at the darkened house before her.
What she was about to do was wrong.
But could the end justify the means in this case?
Different scenarios kept playing in her mind.
What if she was wrong? What if Hunter found out what she'd done? What if she was right about Sonia? What if she was able to save Hunter? Would he be grateful? Or would he feel betrayed? Would he be ashamed that he had been duped?
Finally she couldn't stand it any longer. She had to know for sure. Hunter's safety superceded all other considerations. Solve the mystery of Sonia Carter – or Saunders – or whatever her name was and deal with the ramifications later.
"Let's do it," she muttered resolutely as she got out of her car. She glanced about furtively, then stepped across the front lawn and slipped into the backyard. By the light of a three-quarter moon on a cloudless night, she first made sure that there were no dogs or alarm systems.
Then she was at the back door, lock picking tool in hand. Pushing aside her last minute doubts, she proceeded.
Within minutes, she was making her way from room to room, not turning on any lights, but using her flashlight instead. The only thing she found even remotely incriminating was a phone bill with two New York phone numbers which she jotted on a piece of paper and stuffed in her pocket.
Finally she was forced to admit defeat.
McCall was devastated. She had finally convinced herself that she was doing the right thing, only to be confronted with the possibility that Sonia was on the level.
She stood in the hallway and sighed, fighting back tears of frustration. She let her head roll back, trying desperately to think if there was anything she had overlooked.
And then she saw it. The overhead door to the attic. With renewed hope, she reached up to grab the rope, pull the door open and let down the ladder.
Her footsteps creaked loudly on the ladder rungs and she hurriedly made it to the top. Expectantly, she panned her flashlight around. At first she wasn't sure what she was seeing. The walls seemed to be covered with photographs.
She moved cautiously forward and trained the light on the walls. Realizing what she was looking at caused her to recoil in shock, one hand flew to her mouth in an effort to stifle a scream of sheer horror.
It took every ounce of control she possessed to really look at the poster-sized pictures papering the walls. Pictures of Hunter naked; with Sonia. Pictures of Hunter with a gun. Pictures of herself, her body mutilated, bloodied.
Then she understood that the pictures were not true photographs, but manipulated, using hers, Hunter's and Sonia's heads. Distancing herself from focusing on her face and Hunter's, she was able to see Sonia's twisted obsession with Hunter entailed eliminating her, McCall. Sonia was fixated on Hunter and wanted his partner out of the way and the posters were a representation of her maniacal vision.
Nearly gagging with revulsion, McCall backed out of the attic, unable to look at the gruesome images any longer, although she suspected they would haunt her dreams for quite some time.
She had to get to Hunter. She had to warn him.
She drove to Hunter's house, which was closer and used her key to enter. She found a piece of paper that Hunter had written down the itinerary for the weekend and immediately called the hotel.
"This is Sgt McCall with the LAPD. I urgently need to speak with one of your guests, Rick Hunter. He checked in with Sonia Carter."
"Yes, Sgt, I have their registration, but I'm afraid they never checked in. In fact, it looks like I'm going to have to release the room since they haven't even called in to let us know if they were running late, or chose to stay somewhere else. I'm sorry; I can't be of more help."
Speechless with shock, McCall could only hang up the phone. (Oh dear God, where is he?)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
She left the house and sat in her car for a while, going over in her head, over and over, everything that she had found today. A look at the clock in her dashboard told her it was a little past midnight. She started the car and for the second time that night, it just seemed to know where she wanted to go.
Charlie flipped on the light in the downstairs hallway to see who was almost smashing his front door to pieces. When he opened the door he was standing face to face with a bewildered McCall.
"McCall! Do you know what time it is? This better be important." Charlie gestured for her to come inside.
They sat down on the couch and she started to tell him the whole story. About her not trusting and checking out Sonia, the search of her house, what she had found in the attic and the phone call to the hotel. When she was done, she looked at Charlie, who was looking back at her with a mixture of anger and concern.
"McCall, you should know better than to break into other people's houses, but I'm glad you did. Let me change into something decent and then you show me this attic."
McCall let out a sigh of relief and five minutes later they were in the car on their way to Sonia's house. She let them in by picking the lock again, leading the way to the attic.
"I had my doubts about some of Hunter's girlfriends, but this. . . ." Charlie said, looking at the wall of pictures. "Have you found anything else?"
"Yeah, some New York phone numbers," McCall replied, still feeling disgusted seeing the pictures.
"New York, hmmmm. Let's check who they belong to and also if Sonia and Hunter made it to San Francisco," he suggested.
"Okay, I'll go to the airport and …"
"I don't think so," Charlie interrupted her. "It's obvious that you're the target her, not Hunter. You are not going anywhere and that's an order."
"But Charlie. . ." She tried.
"No! Besides, it's the middle of the night, there's not gonna be anyone at the airport that can help you now. I think it's a better idea to go to the precinct and work on those phone numbers. Tomorrow you can go to the airport on one condition."
McCall raised her eyebrows. "What condition?"
"You have both Brad and Kitty with you at all times. I'll brief them on the situation as soon as they come in."
She knew it was either go along with this or be stuck behind a desk, while others were doing this investigation.
"Okay, I agree." She told him.
After leaving everything as they found it, they headed for the precinct.
"I'll have some guys sit on the house until we know where Hunter and Sonia are," Charlie suggested.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
One of the phone numbers McCall had found, turned out to belong to a barbershop, the other belonged to a small company. She decided to dig a little deeper and discovered that the barbershop's owner, a Sean Philips, was a regular contact of Sonia's. A little more digging told her this Sean Philips was actually Sonia's brother. The small company, the other number belonged to, was in a rough part of New York, in an area with a lot of warehouses.
McCall couldn't quite put her finger on this info. What was the connection to Sonia? Did her brother have a warehouse there? Or was she meant to find this and think Sonia and Hunter went to New York? Or was it a number from someone who had a new "job" for Sonia?
So many questions and so little answers. Maybe with the help of Brad and Kitty she would be able to find some of those answers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Charlie briefed Kitty as they entered the precinct together the next morning. They found McCall slumped at her desk, her hair mussed, and her face pale except for the dark circles under her blood-shot and half-open eyes.
"McCall! Have you been here all night?!" Devane exclaimed.
Grimly McCall nodded. "And I didn't find out as much as I would have liked."
"Give me what you got. Then you," he turned to Kitty," take her home, make sure she eats something and gets some sleep. I'll have Brad finish this up."
Kitty nodded and helped McCall get her purse. "Come on, DeeDee."
McCall turned over all the notes she had and reluctantly let Kitty lead her out.
"I'm driving," Kitty announced. "No arguments."
McCall sighed, but acquiesced. She would eat. She would rest. And then she would get to work and find her partner.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Hunter regained consciousness, he refrained from actually opening his eyes. His head was pounding and the pain was making him nauseous. A quiet groan escaped his lips as he struggled to remember what the hell had happened. One beer at dinner with Sonia after they arrived in San Francisco –
Sonia!
Forgetting his earlier decision to lie quietly, his eyes flew open and he quickly sat up. Struggling mightily not to throw up, his eyes tried to adjust to the dim light. He looked around. It appeared that he was in a large room, nearly empty except for two mattresses and a tiny bathroom without a door.
He realized that someone was huddled on one of the mattresses across the room and hoped it was Sonia. Still woozy, he lurched over to find that it was indeed Sonia. He saw that she had an area of swelling over her left eye but that there was no cut or blood, just some bruising underneath.
Checking for and finding a steady pulse rate, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He took a moment to try and get his bearings.
The extremely narrow windows were too small to crawl through. When he peered outside, all he could see was a long alley, brick walls and a cloudy sky. There was no sign of any cars or people to be found.
A glance at his watch told him it was Sunday, three in the afternoon. He was stunned. He had lost almost two days! As hard as he pushed himself, he couldn't remember anything after eating with Sonia. The last thing he was sure of was the shrimp cocktails they'd ordered and drinking the beer.
(Shit! I don't even remember the main course!) He thought.
A quick search of the desolate room told him nothing except that the thick metal door was locked tight and his gun was missing. When he heard Sonia stirring behind him, he hurried to her side.
"It's okay, Sonia – It's Rick. I'm here." He kneeled down beside her and gently stroked her cheek.
"What -?" She blinked up at him in confusion. "Rick? What happened? Where are we?"
Hunter shook his head. "I don't know, Sweetheart. Are you okay? You've got a goose egg here." He indicated her left forehead. "Do you remember how you got it?"
Sonia reached up and winced. "I don't remember anything. I've just got a headache. Is it bleeding?" she asked with a grimace.
"No, no," Hunter reassured her. "No cut, just a bump. Are you hurt anyplace else?"
Sonia took a moment to do a body inventory then shook her head to Hunter's relief. "That's all, but how about you?"
"I think I must have been drugged, but I'm not injured."
Sonia nodded and pulled herself up to a sitting position with Hunter's help. With a sigh, she leaned in to him and he willingly pulled her close.
"So," she asked, "What do we do?"
Hunter shrugged. "I have no idea at this point. The last thing I remember is dinner – when we got to San Francisco."
Sonia chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Yeah, me too." She looked around. "Is that the bathroom over there?"
"Yep. You need some help?" He assisted her to a standing position.
"Thanks. I'll be okay." She said. "No peeking," she added with a wink.
Hunter grinned. "Spoilsport."
Sonia giggled.
Hunter lay back on the mattress, still trying to come up with anything to help them out of this mess.
In the small bathroom, Sonia took care of her personal business then stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror. Gingerly she touched the knot over her eye.
And smiled.
(Perfect.) She thought. (Hunter bought it hook, line and sinker.)
She would now have Hunter all to herself. He would "take care" of her, never knowing that she was the one who got him here. While her big brother took care of Hunter's meddlesome partner, she would be here bonding with Hunter. Then, when McCall was out of the way, she would be there to comfort him and make sure he quickly forgot all about his partner.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile Sean was packing everything he needed for his trip to LA. He decided to drive since flying with the rifle and ammunition he was carrying would attract too much attention; which was the last thing he needed.
Last stop was the warehouse where Hunter and Sonia were being held.
Sounds coming from outside the heavy door suggested it was being unlocked. Sonia pressed herself closer to Hunter, "Someone's coming," she whispered in a frightened tone of voice.
The door opened and a tall blond man wearing shades entered the room carrying a bag of take-out Chinese. He put the bag in the middle of the room and looked at his prisoners sitting on the mattress, "So you've come around. Hope you enjoy the room, 'cause you are gonna be here for a while," he told them and left locking the door behind him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McCall woke up a couple of hours later, a delicious smell filling her nose. A quick look at the clock told her it was almost noon. She got out of bed, slipped into something comfortable and went downstairs. Kitty was standing in the kitchen stirring in a large pan of homemade soup.
She saw McCall coming.
"Hey sleepyhead, I thought you might be hungry, so I made some of my mom's famous soup."
"Great, it smells delicious and you're right I am hungry," McCall replied as she sat down at the table. "By the way have you heard anything from Brad yet?"
"Yeah I have. Hunter and Sonia got on the plane to San Francisco; their names were on the check in list. Now he's trying to find out if they traveled on."
"To New York?"
"Yeah." Kitty put the steaming pan on the table and started to fill the bowls.
"If only I knew where they might have gone from the airport," McCall thought out loud.
"Maybe grab a bite to eat?" Kitty suggested.
"Possibly; they didn't have much luggage to carry around for just the weekend."
"He didn't mention anything about a special restaurant or something?" Kitty tried to come up with an idea.
"No, but a place close to the hotel would be the most logical option."
"Or maybe they had dinner at the hotel and never got around to checking in."
"We should send their pictures to the SFPD so they can ask around if anyone saw them."
"Good idea, I'll give Brad a call," Kitty got up to place the call while McCall got stuck into her soup.
When they arrived at the precinct a couple of hours later Brad already had some results from the SFPD. Hunter and Sonia had been at the hotel having dinner when a man approached them. After a short conversation they followed him outside and got into a car.
"The waiter who saw the whole thing happen told the officers it didn't look suspicious, it looked like they just met a friend and left with him," Brad told them.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"That's it??" McCall exclaimed.
"Well," Brad looked down at his notes. "The waiter said that he couldn't make a positive ID but the guy did resemble the picture of Sean, and he did say Hunter looked a little drunk, weaving a bit but no wild behavior. Sonia and the guy had him by each arm steering him to the car. He said he figured Hunter drank too much and Sonia called for help."
McCall shook her head. "Brad, Hunter went to San Francisco to have fun – he wouldn't have gotten plastered on the first night there. And he certainly knows his limits when it comes to alcohol. You know that as well as I do."
"So what are you saying?" Brad asked.
"I think he was drugged somehow."
"What?"
"Come on, think about it. It makes perfect sense."
Brad and Kitty exchanged glances.
"Then what?" Kitty asked. "Do you think they knocked him out and then flew to New York? Unless they have their own plane, I don't think they could pull that off."
McCall chewed on her lower lip. "You're right. Maybe New York isn't the only place Sonia and her brother have available to them. We'll have to dig deeper."
She sighed in frustration, suddenly glad that she hadn't rushed off to San Francisco since it appeared that Hunter could be almost anywhere. "Do we have any information about the car they went off in?"
"A rental in Hunter's name," Brad answered promptly.
"We've got to find that car," McCall said.
Kitty seemed to be the one to pose the difficult questions. "But DeeDee, there's something I just don't get."
McCall looked at her expectantly.
"Are we saying that Sean and Sonia drugged Hunter and then – what? Locked him up somewhere? How will that get Sonia with Hunter, in the romance department?
McCall opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Kitty watched her struggle to try and make the puzzle pieces fit.
"Look, I don't know. This woman is obviously twisted. I just pray that Hunter figures out her game and plays along with it until we can find him." She massaged her temples and tried to focus. To come up with something to help find her partner before it was too late.
She was so deep in thought, that when the phone rang she nearly jumped out of her seat. She took a second to calm herself and picked it up on the second ring. "Homicide, Sgt. McCall."
"Sgt. Sorry to bother you, but it looks like you left your lights on. Do you want me to come get the keys and turn 'em off for you?"
"What?" McCall waved off Kitty and Brad who were watching her. "Oh – no, that's okay. I'll go down and turn them off. I could use some fresh air, but thanks anyway." She hung up the phone and reached for her purse to dig out her keys.
"What's up?" Kitty asked.
"I left the car lights on. I'll be right back."
Kitty watched McCall leave then went back to making calls on Sonia and Sean.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As she hurried down the steps, McCall focused her thoughts on Sonia, wondering if she had missed something, if there was someplace to look. It never registered that she didn't know who had called about her car lights. When she reached her car and put her key in the lock on the door and turned the key, something about Sonia occurred to her.
(The travel agency!) She suddenly remembered.
Anything else was abruptly obliterated in a deafening explosion.
The blast sent McCall crashing back into the car parked next to hers, shattering windows and raining glass down upon her. She never felt it. She lost consciousness and lay in a crumpled heap on the street.
When Brad heard the explosion, he immediately ran to the window and looked out. Seeing McCall's body lying on the ground below, he immediately yelled for someone to call an ambulance and raced out of the squad room. (Shit!) He berated himself, furious. He was supposed to watch out for McCall, not let anything happen to her. Hunter would personally have his head on a platter if McCall wasn't safe and sound when he was found. (We will find you, Hunter.) He promised his friend as he ran.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Slowly McCall opened her eyes, blinking against the light that seemed much too bright. Dazed and stunned, she struggled to pull herself up just as she was swarmed by fellow policemen. She was overwhelmed as she felt hands pushing her down, brushing away millions of shards of glass and other debris. Faces, inches from her own. She could see their lips moving but heard nothing that was said. Her head was pounding, and all of a sudden she realized that the roaring in her ears was the only thing she could hear. She lay on the asphalt, panting, her breaths coming in agonized gasps.
And then Brad arrived. He took one look at McCall's face with tiny rivulets of blood from the glass, so full of terror and disorientation, and realized that the crowd of well-intentioned officers was too much for her. She stared up at him, her eyes swimming into focus. "Step back everyone, give her some air." He pushed his way forward and used his arms to guide everyone back. Making his face appear calm, he looked down at McCall. "Are you okay?"
She just stared up him. She could see his lips moving, but couldn't make out the words. Feeling as though every breath in her body had been knocked loose, she could only force out a quiet whimper with almost no sound.
Kitty arrived and she knelt at her friend's side. "Brad, how is she?" She clutched at McCall's hand.
Brad shook his head. "I think the blast affected her hearing. God, I hope it's just temporary. Stay with her and keep her calm until the paramedics get here. I'll get a crew together and see what info we can salvage from her car."
Kitty looked at the car and realized how lucky McCall was to even be alive. Especially when she glanced at the car McCall had been thrown into and saw the large indentation made by her body by the force of the blast.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brad returned to hand Kitty a blanket which she draped over McCall's shaking shoulders. The paramedics arrived a couple of minutes later, and Kitty explained what had happened to one of them while the other gave McCall a quick once over.
"Let's put her on IV fluids and give her something light for the pain."
Carefully they placed her on a stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance. Kitty went with her.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Brad told her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From across the street Sean had been watching everything and realized that his attempt to get McCall out of the way permanently had failed, or had it? He started his car and took off for the hospital to find out if she had survived or not.
In the meantime Brad and three other officers were going through McCall's car with a fine tooth comb when Charlie arrived from a meeting he'd had.
"What happened here? Where's McCall?" he asked seeing the destroyed car.
"She's on her way to hospital; Kitty's gone with her. She got a call that she'd left the lights of her car on and went down to turn them off. We were upstairs and heard a loud bang, and when I looked out the window, I saw this." Brad explained the situation in a nutshell.
"How is she?"
"She was unconscious when I got to her but she came round quickly. Her face was covered in small cuts by the shattered glass but the worse thing is the explosion left her deaf."
"Have you found anything so far?"
"No, we've just started."
"Okay, I'm going to the hospital. Turn this car inside out."
"We will. I'll be there as soon as I'm finished here."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the hospital the trauma nurse tried to get McCall's attention but it was like she had shut herself out, not responding to anything. She was staring into space until she lost consciousness again.
When she woke up a while later she found herself lying in bed, felling very drowsy and tired. (Must be the painkillers) she thought after remembering vaguely what had happened.
There were two people on the other side of the room but even though she tried, she couldn't hear what they were talking about. The only thing she could hear was the ringing sound.
"I don't know how this happened, Charlie, it was exactly like Brad told you. She went down to turn off the car lights after the call and the next thing was the explosion," Kitty explained.
"This Sonia means business, she really wants McCall out of the way at any cost," Charlie replied.
"Maybe, we should give her what she wants."
Kitty looked at him in surprise, "You mean tell the world she died and see what happens next?"
"Very good Sgt. and hopefully wrap this up before she's out of hospital. I'll set the wheels in motion; you stay here with her."
Kitty went back to McCall's bedside and noticed she had awakened. She took the writing pad on the nightstand and wrote: 'How are you feeling?' and handed it to McCall.
'Tired. What did the doctor say.' she scribbled back.
'You have a concussion, broken wrist, multiple bruises and damage to your eardrums. You were extremely lucky to be alive. They want to do more tests on your ears to see if there's damage on the inside. Still no sound?'
McCall shook her head.
Kitty looked at her friend who was having trouble keeping her eyes open, 'Sleep now, talk more later.'
McCall did just that.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sean had arrived at the hospital and pretended to be a reporter so he would blend in. The woman behind the desk in the main hall wasn't giving him any information except that there would be a press release soon.
Meanwhile, Charlie made a couple of calls to inform certain people of his plan and wrote down a few words for the press. Before going down he checked on McCall.
"How is she?" he asked Kitty.
"She woke up after you left, feeling very tired. She's not hearing anything yet and fell asleep a while ago."
"I'm on my way down to set the plan in motion by making a statement to the press."
"I sure hope Sonia takes the bait."
"So do I."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Downstairs a small group of reporters had gathered to hear Charlie's statement.
"I'm making a short statement and won't be answering any questions for now. Earlier this day one of our officers, Sgt. DeeDee McCall was seriously injured when a bomb exploded that was planted in her car. The injuries she sustained were so severe that she died not long after arriving at this hospital. A full investigation is taking place at this moment to determine who is responsible for this. That will be all, thank you."
Sean couldn't believe what he'd just heard, he did it, he got rid of the one person that stood in the way of his sister's happiness.
When the first paper announcing McCall's death rolled off the presses Sean got a copy and headed back to San Francisco to deliver the news.
It was in the early hours of the morning that he arrived at the warehouse and quietly opened the door to the room where Hunter and Sonia were. Peeking inside he saw them lying on the mattress,
fast asleep. He placed a bag of take-out inside the door, threw the paper on the floor and locked the door again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hunter woke up to the thump, when the paper hit the floor. He picked it up and unfolded it. The picture on the front page made his stomach turn around; there was his partner's car ripped apart by a bomb. The headline knocked him out:
Police officer killed in car bombing.
It was as though his legs turned to jelly and he sank to the ground, still clutching the paper with white-knuckled intensity. "No," he whispered brokenly, "It can't be."
Vaguely, it registered that Sonia had come up behind him. Placing an arm around him, she peeked over to read. "Oh, Rick!" she gasped. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry." She crawled into his lap and hugged him fiercely. "A bomb! Who would do such a thing?"
Hunter's thoughts were reeling. It was so hard to focus. "Why? Why DeeDee?"
He paused. A thought struck him and he pulled back to stare at Sonia. "Is that why we're here? Was it to get us out of the way?"
Sonia stared up at him blankly. "I – I don't know, Rick."
Distracted, he disentangled himself from her grasp and pulled himself to a standing position. "It's the only thing that makes sense," he muttered, pacing. "No one has said anything to us except to bring some food and that damned paper."
Sonia watched him try to concentrate on the work aspect, rather than the personal one of losing his partner. (That won't do,) she thought. She wanted him to grieve, to lower his defenses and leave himself vulnerable to her machinations.
Rick was still pacing when the sound of crying caught his attention. He looked over to see Sonia, still sitting on the floor where he'd left her, huddled over her knees, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
He went to her. "Hey, Sweetheart –"
"Oh, Rick, I – I can't go through this again, I can't," she cried.
"What?"
"My brother," she managed through her tears, "my brother was killed by a bomb – he – he was in the army – he –" she couldn't go on and wept.
Rick pulled her into his arms. "Ssh, I didn't know. I'm sorry."
She went on to tell him about losing her brother, her best friend, as Rick continued to hold her in his protective embrace. She played the sympathy card with uncanny skill, drawing him to her in shared grief.
Emotionally battered, he told her about working with DeeDee, about how much they had been through together. "Now, she's gone and if we don't find a way out of here, I won't even have a chance to say goodbye."
Sonia kissed away his tears and snuggled deeper. She let him go on, embellishing on her own tale as she comforted him, and rejoiced as he thanked her for her support and understanding.
Waiting what she thought was an appropriate amount of time she managed to get him to eat what had been brought in, reminding him that he needed to keep his strength up if an escape opportunity presented itself.
And that night she went to him, as he lay awake on his mattress, staring out the window, hands behind his head. By the light of the moon, she silently stood before him and slowly undressed, her eyes never leaving his face.
Rick stared up at her. When she was naked, he reached up to her and she willingly let herself be pulled down.
"I'm scared, Rick. I'm so scared. I don't want to die. I want to live."
Rick took her face in his hands.
"Make me feel alive."
He kissed her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next time McCall opened her eyes, she was alone. A soft moan escaped her lips when she tried to pull her bruised and battered body to a more upright position. She was unbelievably relieved that she could hear herself and that the ringing in her ears was almost gone.
She looked up and saw that a helpfully mounted on the wall across her bed was a dry erase board that announced it was Monday and her nurse was Linda Tanner. A clock showed it was 8:30 in the morning.
With an exhausted sigh, she sank back against the pillows and turned on the television. The local morning news show was broadcasting the latest news about her death.
Her mouth dropped as she listened to Charlie mourn the loss of one of LA's brightest detectives and promised to find the person responsible.
Finally gathering her wits about her, and thanking God for her the return of her hearing, she turned the TV off to try and think. Remembering the bomb and Sonia's threat, it made sense to her that she be presumed dead.
Now, she could join in the hunt for her partner. Ruefully, she glanced down at splint on her left wrist. (At least I can still use my gun.)
Where to start? Sonia was the key. She had to be. Had they looked everywhere?
And then she recalled the travel agency that Sonia worked at. How legitimate was that job?
(Only one way to find out.) Ignoring the discomfort and nausea that moving caused, she managed to pull herself up and hobbled over to the bathroom. She found her clothes in a personal belongings bag, dirty and ripped.
"Ugh," she muttered. Then she turned and got a look at herself in the mirror. "Oh, great." The tiny cuts had been cleaned and swabbed with antibiotic ointment, but it would take a major makeup job to disguise the damage. She looked around for her purse and found it at the bottom of the bag.
Unable to keep standing, she was forced to go back to bed to try and cover up the cuts. She was almost done when Brad came in.
"Oh, it's good to see you're awake – " Then he stopped, unsure if he had been heard.
McCall smiled. "It's okay, my hearing is fine now. In fact, I just need to get out of here."
Brad just stared at her. "Are you out of your mind? You're supposed to be dead! You can't just go traipsing out of here! And you've got a broken arm, for crying out loud!"
"Look, I've got to find Hunter. He's missing and the reason someone wants me dead is so she can have him all to herself. I'll be careful, but I've got to do this. I can't just sit in this bed hiding while he's out there somewhere. Please, you've got to help me."
"Help you! How?"
"Get me some scrubs. I've almost got my make up done. I've got an idea where we can look."
Brad eyed her with concern. She didn't look like she should be up, but he knew what she was going through. And he knew he wouldn't want to sit idly by while everyone else did the work.
"I'm gonna end up on school zone patrol," Brad moaned.
"Not if we find Hunter," McCall said determinedly. "I'll take all the responsibility. Just get me out of here. I want to go to that travel agency Sonia worked at. I keep thinking about what Kitty said, about how hard it would be to take Hunter far if he was drugged. Maybe we can find someplace to narrow our search."
Brad sighed in resignation. (God, I hope this works, or Charlie won't be the only one after me.)
At that moment the nurse, Tanner walked in to find her patient getting ready to leave.
"What do you think you're doing? You're in no state to leave the hospital. Besides your Captain warned us you might try," she said as she took a hold of McCall and guided her back to bed.
"As for you," she turned to Brad, "You should know better."
Brad just looked at her, stunned by what had just happened. McCall sat on the edge of her bed, tears burning in her eyes,
"I can't, I gotta find Rick."
"I'm sorry dear," the nurse sat down next to her. "I can't let you go. Look at you; your legs aren't going where your head wants them to go. You must have a headache due to your concussion. You are just too weak."
McCall knew there was a lot of truth to what Tanner said: she was feeling weak and her head was killing her.
"You told me where to go look for clues, I think I can manage," Brad tried to reassure her.
There was nothing else to do then give in, "Okay, but keep me posted."
"I will and I'll ask Kitty if she can keep you company. I can ask Sgt. Bell to give me a hand," Brad suggested.
"That's okay," she said but the look on her face said otherwise.
Brad left and McCall sank back into the pillows. (Hunter where are you? I want to be the one looking for you instead of Brad but Charlie's made sure all ways out are blocked and assigned Kitty as my personal prison guard. It's not fair.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Getting a search warrant for the travel agency was the next step; Brad wanted to make sure everything went by the book on this one. By the end of the morning he picked up the warrant and headed for the travel agency with Sgt. Bell.
A huge sign in the window greeted them: 'Your dream holiday for little money!' it read followed by some very cheap destinations.
"Hmm, Hawaii is cheap this week," Bell remarked.
"Hawaii's never been cheap, believe me," Brad replied. "I've been on one of those cheap holiday flights once. The hotel was crap - I shared my room with numerous unidentified crawling creatures and the excursions they promised still have to start. So instead of a holiday that was promised to be great and full of culture, we had to organize and pay our own excursions. We complained of course, but it didn't help much. So be warned."
The expression on Bell's face changed from a happy to a worried one, "Geez, I never realized. I guess it will be my in-laws cabin again. By the way, I never knew you were the cultural type."
"There's more you don't know about me," Brad said sagely and entered the agency.
They were greeted by a friendly woman behind one of the desks, "Good afternoon gentlemen, how can I help you?"
"By showing us Sonia Carter's desk," Brad said to her, showing the warrant and his badge.
He did a thorough search of the desk while Bell went through the computer, "I like it when people forget to empty the send items folder in their email program," he said.
"What have you got?" Brad wanted to know.
"Plenty of emails sent to a Sean."
"That's her brother."
"Some of them are pretty incriminating. Here read this one," Bell turned the screen towards Brad.
"Dear Sean, I got him to come to San Francisco with me. Need something to drug him with so we can transport him to the warehouse. Hope you got the keys; I duplicated them so they wouldn't be missed. Talk to you soon, Sonia," Brad read out loud.
"If I understand it correctly the agency has a warehouse in San Francisco?" Brad asked the manager.
"Yes, we do," he explained. "We used to have a large agency there and needed a place for storage. It closed last month but the lease on the warehouse won't end till the end of the year. Until then it's empty."
"Do you have an address for me?"
"Sure, I'll get it for you."
(Finally, a break) Brad thought. (Hunter we're coming).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the warehouse, Sonia kept after Hunter with the tenacity of a bull dog. She would pretend to have bad dreams, letting him soothe and calm her. She faked an anxiety attack and let him struggle to reassure her. And she would seduce him with sex, begging him and pleading with him. She would snuggle in his strong arms, thrilling to every touch or caress and telling herself he loved her.
She thought she had succeeded in making him hers.
By holding him captive, she convinced herself that she had a lock on his love as well as his body. That by taking away someone he held so dear, that he would immediately need to fill the void. She intended to be what she thought he wanted. She was certain she had shown him that he needed her.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rick Hunter had never felt so completely numb. Or was he overwhelmed?
As he lay awake, long after Sonia would go to sleep, he tried to figure it out. Trapped in a room with someone he cared about and obviously needed him. She kept saying she loved him.
But DeeDee. Oh, God, just thinking her name sent a bolt of pain directly into his heart.
He thought he was over her before all this. He thought when she said she couldn't let herself love a cop that he could move on. That he had moved on.
(How could I be so blind and stupid?) He berated himself harshly. (How could I be so wrong?)
And the fact that she was gone, without knowing the truth about his feelings for her, darkened his soul a little more every hour.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(DeeDee!! Help me!!)
"Rick!"
Her scream shattered the hushed silence of the hospital room and she sat straight up in her bed. Her heart was pounding hard enough to take her breath away after the one terrified cry.
The officer posted outside her room immediately threw open the door, gun drawn.
"Sgt?"
"I'm okay," she managed to get out, her throat parchment dry. "Just a bad dream." She stared down at her shaking hands, unable to meet the concerned officer's sympathetic gaze.
He understood. "Hang in there, Sgt. They'll find him." Without waiting for a response, he quickly backed out, leaving her alone with her thoughts and fears.
Alone.
Desperation and dread welled up inside her and she sank back against the pillows. The terrible ache in her heart competed with the pounding in her head and she was unable to stop the tears.
(Why haven't I been honest with you, Rick? Why haven't I been honest with myself? I thought I could create a safe distance between us by telling you I would never love a cop again but it didn't work. I saw the hurt when I told you this. I wish now that I hadn't. There's no one that can make me as happy as you do - no one.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brad reported back to Charlie what he and Sgt. Bell had found out and were now brainstorming what to do next.
"We could hand it over to the SFPD," Charlie suggested.
"You can't be serious," Brad replied in disbelief. "I'm not about not about to give this to another team, not now I've come this close to finding Hunter. I know we have to notify the SFPD, but I want to be the one going into that warehouse getting him out, and I want Kitty with me on this one."
Charlie was surprised by the determination in Brad's words; this was a side of him he didn't show very often.
Later that day Brad and Kitty were on a plane to San Francisco. Charlie had made some phone calls and arranged for them to have a team of officers to back them up. The first thing they had to do when they arrived was report to Captain Sams, he would assign them the officers they needed.
"Do you really think Hunter is in that warehouse?" Kitty asked Brad, who was staring out of the small window.
He looked at her, "Yeah I do, call it intuition."
Kitty smiled, "I never knew you had such a strong female side."
He rolled his eyes and grinned, "There's so much more you don't know about me."
They arrived in San Francisco not long after that and took a cab to the police station. As promised a team was put together and briefed on the situation.
"The plan is to arrest Sean Philips first. Thanks to some hard work form your colleagues we know he comes by at least twice a day to bring them food and drinks. As far as we know, he's the only suspect outside of the warehouse." Brad explained to the gathered officers.
After assigning everyone with a task, they left for the warehouse, and took their places.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Inside Hunter was staring out of the only window in the room. The view wasn't as spectacular as he was used to at home, looking at a brick wall between steel bars. In his mind the memories of McCall played like a bad movie.
Suddenly he saw something in the corner of his eye, or rather someone, moving slowly into the alley between the two buildings. He immediately recognized the man.
(Brad. They found us).
His cop instinct told him Brad was waiting for something.
He sighed and returned to Sonia's side on the mattress.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The patience of the officers was rewarded when a car pulled up and Sean got out.
Brad gave a signal and within seconds Sean was surrounded by officers pointing their guns at him, ordering him to put his hands up.
"Sean Philips?" Brad asked.
"Yeah," he replied slowly.
"You're under arrest for kidnapping and attempted murder of a police officer. You have the right to remain silent, if you give up that right remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I explained them to you?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sean mumbled as Brad cuffed him.
He was taken to a car by another officer.
"What did you mean by attempted murder?" Kitty wanted to know.
"I haven't told you yet but we found his fingerprints on what was left of McCall's car door. Pretty careless don't you think?" He gave Kitty a wink.
"Sloppy," she replied with a smile.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They went over to the warehouse, Kitty opened the front door and with guns drawn they all entered the building not knowing what to expect, but seeing Rick Hunter propped up on a mattress with their suspect curled up in his arms was not it.
For a split second, everyone froze.
Brad spoke first. "Hunter." He kept his voice neutral. "Good to see you, buddy. You, okay?" He kept his gun drawn.
Kitty surreptiously pulled one hand behind her back and indicated that the other officers hold their ground.
Hunter sensing something was wrong, slowly got to his feet. "Good to see you, too. We're okay."
Her eyes wide, Sonia stood also and clung to Hunter, keeping him between her and the police officers. "Rick – Is – is everything all right?"
Hunter and Brad continued to face each other, their gazes locked. "Of course. This is Sgt Navarro and his partner Sgt O'Hearn." He didn't move. Something in Brad's expression kept him rooted to the spot.
Kitty, her eyes wide and guileless lowered her gun. "Hi Sonia." She stepped slowly around Brad and moved to Sonia, careful not to step in Brad's firing lane. "You can call me Kitty. Are you hurt?"
Sonia hesitated, confused.
Kitty continued her advance. The plan was to separate her from Hunter, since it appeared he had no idea what Sonia was capable of.
Hunter's eyes darted from Kitty, to Brad to Sonia, who was beginning to suspect something was not quite right as Kitty moved closer and closer.
"Hunter," Brad said. "Step aside."
"What?!" Hunter was completely baffled. "What the hell are you talking about? She's a victim here, too! What's going on here anyway?"
Suddenly, without warning, Sonia jumped. Catching Kitty off-guard, she went straight for the gun. The two women tumbled to the ground, wrestling for the weapon. Kitty desperately tried to keep it from firing as Brad and Hunter joined the fray.
Sonia kicked out and was able to wriggle away, somehow with Kitty's gun in her hand. "Don't anybody move!" She ordered, the gun aimed directly at Hunter's head.
Everyone held their positions.
"Sonia?" Hunter stared at her. "What are you doing, Sweetheart? These are the good guys – they're police. We're free."
"I love you, Rick."
Hunter did a double-take. (Then why is she pointing a gun at me?)
"Put the gun down. Can you do that for me?"
"I did all this for you." She kept the gun steady. "Don't you understand that?"
He stared at her. "No. No, I don't."
"I love you. And you love me. I know you do." She was starting to cry. "I'm all you've got now."
Hunter swallowed hard. (DeeDee) "Put the gun down, Sonia. Put it down."
"No!" She cried. "They'll take you away from me! You can't leave me!"
Hunter was utterly baffled. "Nobody's going anywhere - you're just in shock. Put the gun down and let's get out of here," he kept his voice low and soothing.
Sonia wasn't buying it. "You love me! I know you do. I did everything right and now you're mine! Don't you see?"
It was if they were the only two people in the room.
"No, baby, I don't see."
"Stop it!" she cried out. "Stop it! She's gone now! It's just you and me! I made her go away and now you can love me – only me!"
Hunter was starting to feel nauseous. (Sonia was somehow involved in McCall's death? But – it couldn't be true. Could it?)
Sonia was becoming more and more agitated. "She's dead! There's nothing stopping you – you love me – I know you do! I'm the one you need! I'm the one who loves you! Not her – it could never be her!"
Hunter shook his head. It was surreal. Sonia had been here with him – how could she be involved? He stared in horror at the woman he thought he could have cared so much for. She was a complete stranger to him now. DeeDee. That was the woman he loved. But even she was taken from him.
"Rick!" She shouted. "Rick, please! I love – "
She squeezed the trigger just as Brad threw himself forward to tackle her. Instinctively, Hunter fell to the ground and was able to dodge the bullet by a hair's breadth.
Sonia was immediately handcuffed and dragged away, still yelling and professing her love. Hunter stayed where he was. His face pressed to the thin mattress, he fought against the tears that stung his eyes.
He jumped when he felt a hand brush against the back of his neck.
"Rick?"
He froze.
"Rick, are you okay?"
He couldn't move. His eyes were squeezed firmly shut. He didn't want to open them. It was a trick. A cruel joke to lure him back to a world without DeeDee.
"Rick?"
Somehow, he was able to look up. His breath stopped. Finally he found his voice. "You're - you're dead. This is a hallucination."
The "hallucination" laughed softly. "I'm not dead. It was a scam. I'm okay."
She didn't look okay. Pale, worried, but she was most definitely alive. He stared transfixed at her face. The sight of her sent an intense heat racing through his veins and he felt completely overwhelmed as he reached out and carefully pulled her to him for a brief hug.
Brad and Kitty kneeled down next to them. "You ready to get out of here, Hunter?" Brad asked.
Hunter glanced at his fellow officers. "Yeah. Let's go. It looks like we've got a lot to talk about."
Brad gave him a hand up, as Kitty assisted McCall to her feet. She watched her friend with some concern. The flight, while short, had obviously aggravated the concussion and she looked like might be sick. While Kitty wished McCall had stayed in the hospital, she knew it would take more than a head injury to keep her from Hunter. She nearly laughed aloud, picturing the argument between Charlie and McCall about flying her in for the rescue. Charlie should have known he couldn't win that battle.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What are you smirking about?" McCall had noticed Kitty's facial expression.
"Nothing important," she replied.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McCall was glad she was sitting in the back of one of the patrol cars; her head was killing her and the dizzy spells told her she had crossed a line. Hunter got in on the other side and noticed her discomfort so he wrapped around her and she placed her head on his chest. "Brad filled me in on the explosion and Charlie's plan afterwards. I don't know why I have been so blind. Why couldn't I have seen it coming? The signs were there."
"Love can do strange things to people," McCall said softly.
"I guess," he sighed. "When I read about your "death" I realized you mean more to me then I was willing to admit. Life without you would have been too hard."
"What are you saying?"
"I should have done this a long time ago," he carefully lifted her head and gently kissed her.
The feeling of his warm and soft lips sent shivers down McCall's spine and a soft moan escaped.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked worried.
"No, you didn't."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sonia wasn't pleased with the sight two rows in front of her on the plane back to LA. The fact that Hunter held McCall close to him infuriated her even more, "He should be mine, he should be mine," she hissed quietly.
Sean, who was sitting next to her, noticed his sister's anger and frustration, "Leave it sis, you lost. He doesn't deserve you anyway."
Brad looked up from the magazine he was reading when he heard the voices next to him, but returned to it when the conversation didn't continue. He hated that he had had to fill Hunter in on Sonia's true colors, but knew he'd rather it be him than McCall. He glossed over his descriptions of the manipulated pictures in the attic, but let him know it was enough to know McCall was in danger. Especially after talking to the detective in New York.
Hunter was worried for his partner, lying asleep against him. She looked pale and fragile.
He knew she had left the hospital against doctors and Charlie's orders so he made a mental note: (I'm taking her back as soon as we land).
A warning sound rang through the cabin telling the passengers to fasten their seatbelts indicating they were almost at their destination: home.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Charlie paced restlessly at the arrival gate as the plane carrying his detectives taxied down the runway. Mentally calculating the cost of flying four detectives and two prisoners had him reaching for his Rolaids. His jaw clenched tightly as he contemplated the ass-chewing he'd be receiving at the upcoming budget meeting.
He berated himself for being such a softie when Navarro pleaded his case. He should have stood firm, he told himself, and the drive wasn't that long.
(Well, they better not get used to this,) he groused, watching the plane pull up and the ramp moved in. Then he recalled why had agreed in the first place.
Navarro had told him how Hunter had been kept in the warehouse, manipulated by Sonia; and supplied with the newspaper announcing McCall's death. What must be going through his mind to discover the woman you've been dating was a psychotic, that your partner was alive and well, you've been held as a prisoner of love and a victim of a kind of mind control?
Suddenly contrite, Charlie decided that a plane fare was a very small price to pay. He had secretly hoped that Hunter wouldn't have known about his ruse and now faced with the fall out of this whole fiasco, he considered paying for the trip himself. Hunter couldn't have known what he was getting into with Sonia, and McCall had only been looking out for her partner.
Charlie stopped in mid-stride and did a double-take. (Wait a minute,) he thought. (Why did Sonia go after McCall? Why did she perceive Hunter's partner a threat? What made McCall suspicious of Hunter's girlfriend?) When she got him that night to see Sonia's attic, she only told him what she had found out on Sonia – not why she had started digging in the first place.
Everything became crystal clear when he caught sight of a familiar face moving towards him, at least a head taller than those around him.
"You look like hell, Hunter," Charlie muttered, waiting for the other passengers to pass.
Then he saw Hunter's arm around McCall, all but carrying her, as they slowly made their way to him. He thought McCall didn't look so hot herself.
But looking past the effects of the horror they'd just been through, he glimpsed what Sonia must have see from the beginning. That Hunter and McCall belonged together. And maybe McCall had started to see that, after Hunter began dating someone else.
Charlie sighed. It seemed obvious to him now that he recognized the signs. Signs that had probably been there all along but no one had seen or acted on.
Navarro turned the prisoners over to officers Charlie had brought to drive them to the station for booking. Hunter stepped over to Charlie as O'Hearn and McCall veered off to the ladies room.
Charlie indicated that Hunter should sit down. "Are you okay, Hunter?" He asked his shell-shocked detective.
"Yeah. Trying to sort it all out," Hunter replied, unable to meet Charlie's' eyes.
"Is McCall all right?"
"She – uh – I think she got a little airsick."
Charlie nodded. "Hunter, I'm sorry."
That got Hunter's attention. "For what?" He asked, curious.
"Navarro told me that Phillips made sure that you got the newspaper saying McCall had been killed."
Hunter shook his head. "You did what you had to do. It kept her safe until you got him. I'm the one who should apologize. I'm the one that put her in the line of fire."
"It's not a matter of blame, or who's at fault. This happened only because you couldn't see what was right in front of you and McCall didn't see until it was almost too late."
"What?! What the hell are you talking about, Charlie?"
"You're in love with McCall. I know it. Sonia figured it out and McCall finally admitted it. Why do you think she checked Sonia out?"
"What!?" Hunter realized that he was repeating himself, but was too dumbstruck to say anything else.
"Well, she didn't say it in so many words," Charlie admitted, "But she loves you."
"He's right."
Hunter whirled around to see McCall standing behind him, leaning heavily on Navarro. She still looked decidedly pale, but her eyes were clear. "I do love you."
Hunter and Charlie both leapt up and guided her to a chair, which she gratefully sank into.
"But – but you said – I'm a –" Hunter fumbled over the words as he sat next to her.
"I know what I said," McCall cut him off gently, "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I went behind your back on Sonia. I just couldn't live with myself if she wasn't right for you and I just stood by and let her hurt you. If she had been completely clean – I would never have gone in her house - never. I only wanted you to be happy and safe. I swear." She took his hands in her good one.
Charlie motioned Navarro and O'Hearn to move off, and then handed his keys to Hunter. "I'm parked right outside. Get McCall back to the hospital where she belongs. We'll deal with this later. Whatever it takes," He added with feeling.
"Thanks, Charlie," Hunter managed, still reeling.
McCall simply smiled and let her head rest on Hunter's shoulder.
"I'll call you later," Charlie said, then left with Brad and Kitty, who was grinning broadly.
When they were alone, Hunter turned back to his partner. He was still in shock. He would deal with the Sonia issue later. Right now his priority was the woman seated next to him. "Can you make it to the car?" He asked with concern. She looked so pale still; the make up that tried to cover her cuts and bruises was long gone. She cradled her injured arm and he winced noticing the swollen fingers peeking out.
"I'll be fine. I just need to lie down in my own bed."
"But –"
"No buts. I am not going to the hospital," she stated firmly. "Home. Just take me home." She reached up to kiss his cheek. "Please."
Hunter relented, helped her to the car and got her settled in. Before pulling out, he turned to her. "I love you too, you know."
McCall smiled and closed her eyes. "I know."