Reese had just parked his motorcycle right across the street from the Marriott just in time to see Mercedes Jones exit the hotel with a tall, slender built blonde man. Reese tapped his earpiece to connect to Finch.
"Finch, did you find out anything about who might be after Miss Jones?" Reese questioned as he lifted his cell phone and took a couple of picture of Mercedes' blonde companion.
"I'm afraid I have nothing definitive yet Mr. Reese, but I do know that whatever happened that caused Miss. Jones' number to come up happened within the past week, while she was back in L.A."
"I'm sending you some pictures it seems she might have a boyfriend. Maybe he's involved somehow get me everything you can find on him."
Finch stared as the picture Reese sent him instantly appeared on his monitor, with a smirk he replied. "That is a Mr. Samuel Evans. He's a senior at Miss. Jones' old high school and he'll be attending UCLA in the Fall, majoring in graphic design. And from what I have read on his Twitter and Facebook accounts, he and Miss. Jones use to be hot and heavy before she left for L.A. The man makes it no secret that he's in love with her, and he seems quite taken with how nice she smells." Finch stated as he arched a brow while he read the many posts Sam made on his pages about Mercedes. Reese continued watching the couple allowing them to get some distance before he crossed the street to follow them. Suddenly out the corner of his eye, he noticed that someone else was watching the couple and had started following them.
"Finch I think the perp is here and he's about to make a move, see if you can ID this guy," Reese quickly took a snapshot of the bulky, bald black man who was now following Mercedes and Sam, he sent it to Finch. Reese then kick started his bike and sped off to catch the two unsuspecting victims before it was too late.
"Mr. Finch I have intel on the bad guy and 'bad' being the operative word. His name is Riddick Jackson and he's employed by some record exec named Sean Knight, who is based out of L.A. The machine is still pulling up all of Mr. Jackson's criminal history, but from what its gathered so far he's a suspect in over 25 murders back in L.A. he's gotten off because no one has come forward to identify him as the culprit or if they did, they disappeared without a trace."
"He's probably the henchman for that record exec." Reese said as he dismounted his bike and removed his helmet. He then stalked around the corner just as Mercedes and Sam approached. "Mercedes Jones?" He called out and stopped a baffled Mercedes and a suspicious Sam in their tracks.
"Yes, do I know you?" She inquired, as she looked at him cock-eyed.
"No you don't but know that I'm here to help you." Reese assured. "I need you to come with me."
"What?"
"No way she's going anywhere with you," Sam said as he moved between Mercedes and the mysterious man blocking their way. "Who the hell are you?"
"Look we really don't have time for formal introductions, because that man stalking across the street right now." Reese pointed and both Sam and Mercedes turned confused gaze to the man Reese was pointing out. "He's trying to kill you." As if to make his point, the big bald man pulled a gun from his coat, which caused both Sam and Mercedes eyes to nearly bulge out of their heads.
"Oh my God," Mercedes gasped out as Sam yanked her behind him and Reese stepped in front of them both and pulled his own gun.
"Head two blocks up, go down to the subway and catch the next train, I'll be right behind you." Reese commanded as he covered them. At first, both Sam and Mercedes seemed to be glued to where they stood and they continued watching the approaching gunman with fright-filled eyes, it was until the man shot at them were they motivated to move. Mercedes screamed as she ducked and covered her head while Sam turned his body towards her and wrapped himself around her like a shield.
"Go, now!" Reese commanded as he shot back trying to avoid hitting the pedestrians who began screaming and scurrying about them. Without further hesitation, Sam grabbed Mercedes hand and race towards the subway. They bounded down the stairs, pausing only long enough to pay the token and just in time to catch the train that was just readying to close its doors. Mercedes had been virtually holding her breath and didn't truly exhale until the train doors closed and the train began to move.
"Oh my God Sam, oh my God," She cried as tears fell down her face and her body began to shake. Sam quickly pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed at her temple while whispering words of reassurance in her ears. He too was scared witless but knew he had to stay strong in order to keep Mercedes from completely falling apart.
Reese's return gunfire and the sirens of Det. Carter's approaching vehicle had been enough to make the perp turn and retreat. Reese was grateful for Carter's back up as usual but he could see from the way she glared at him while telling the frightened bystanders that everything was under control that she was about to lay into him.
"Really John, you get into a shootout in the middle of the city? You're lucky I was so close by when Finch called me." Detective Jocelyn Carter chastised as she stood before him with her hands on her hip.
"Well in all fairness Jos, he started it." Reese said as he turned and began walking back to his bike with Carter right at his side.
"So I take it there's a new number?" She asked and Reese simply nodded his head as he grabbed his helmet and pulled it back on. "Well I'll leave you to it, but could you please try not to draw so much attention to yourself, and call me if you need me." She tossed out as she rolled her eyes and smirked at Reese as mounted his bike. She shook her head slightly and then headed back to her car.
"Finch…" Reese called out.
"I'm here Mr. Reese. I took the liberty of cloning Miss Jones' cell during your shootout as well as Mr. Evans, and I'm tracking them now. If you hurry you should be able to catch them on Lexington Avenue." Finch stated and Reese ended their call and then sped off on his bike.
"So you can't think of any reason why that guy is after you?" Sam asked as he sat close to Mercedes, clutching her hands in his. She shook her head. "Come on Mercy, think baby."
"I am Sam and I don't know," Mercedes responded as tears continued to fill her eyes. "I've never done anything wrong to anyone."
"Well that's not entirely true, remember last year the whole you, me, and Shane drama." Sam reminded her. "You don't think he would send someone after you do you?"
"No, Shane is a decent guy and besides remember prom he had gotten himself a new girlfriend by then. But now that I think about it that guy, the one shooting at us he does look familiar to me."
"From back in L.A.?" Sam asked hoping she'd remember more.
"Yeah, yeah I think so." She nodded just as the train came to a stop. "What do we do? That guy who helped us said that he'd be right behind us, so do we stay here or go back to the hotel?"
"I say we just ride the train, we can't risk going back to the hotel. What if that guy knows you're staying there. I don't want to endanger our friend." Sam said and Mercedes nodded in agreement, as she bit at her bottom lip. "Don't worry, I promise you I won't let anything happen to you." He then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulled her close, and then kissed the top of her head.
"I hate to interrupt," Reese's voice pulled their attention to the open doors where he stood. "But we need to move now." Even though they didn't know this man Sam and Mercedes both were relieved to see him and they stood and exited the train after him.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked as he walked behind the older man while keeping a firm grip on Mercedes' hand and pulling her close beside him.
"I'm taking you two to a safe house. I'd had only planned to take you," Reese stated as he turned to cast a quick glance to Mercedes. "But now that the bad guy has seen your boyfriend here it's probably best to take him along too."
"But we came here with more friends, will they be safe?" Mercedes asked.
"Yes, I already have a friend looking after them. His name is Det. Fusco and he's a cop so they're safe. Right now I'm more concerned with getting you two out of sight, that guy seemed to know just where to find you, so I'm guessing he has eyes on the streets." Reese replied as he led them out of the subway.
"Do you know who that guy was and why he's trying to kill me?" Mercedes asked and she jogged a bit trying to keep up.
"His name is Riddick Jackson and he works for an L.A. based record exec named Sean Knight. As for why he's after you I was kind of hoping you'd tell me. Do you know this Knight guy?"
"Yeah," Mercedes answered honestly. "I attended one of his parties last week. Some of the guys I sing backup with talked me into going since there were a lot of musical big wigs that always attend Mr. Knight's parties. We went and shopped around some of the demo work we have, you know hoping to catch a break."
"Over here," Reese spoke out as he maneuvered them to what looked to be an abandon department store. He unlocked the door and held it open and the Sam and Mercedes slipped in. he then scanned the area to make sure there wasn't anyone paying too much attention to them. Once he was sure they weren't being watched and hadn't been followed, he shut and locked the door behind him. "C'mon were going all the way to the top," Once they reached the top of the building both Sam and Mercedes were in awe at how the entire floor was an upscale studio apartment. "Make yourselves at home; this is where you'll be staying until I take out this threat. It's important that you don't make any phone calls to anyone, in case this Knight person has cloned your phone. Now Mercedes," Reese then focused on the frightened young woman who hid slightly behind the blonde man, who looked to be barely out of his teens but whose eyes held a dangerous gleam that told Reese he'd defend his lady with his life if it came to it. "Can you think of anything that might have happened at this party you attended?"
"No, nothing that anyone would want to kill me over. I spent most of the time star struck," She stated. "I was secretly taking pictures and videos of all the famous singers that were there."
"Finch did you get that?" Reese spoke out causing the other two people in the room to look around for the person he was speaking to.
"Yes Mr. Reese I'm on it." Finch replied into Reese's earpiece.
"You probably took a picture or video of something that someone doesn't want getting out to the public." Reese said to Mercedes. "So my partner and I need to find whatever it is and expose it, that's probably gonna be the only thing that saves your life." He then moved back to the exit. "You two stay here, don't leave this room, or make any calls. You'll be safe here. I'll be back as soon as I can, don't open this door unless you hear," Reese knock on the door three times consecutively, paused, knock twice more, paused again and then knocked once. "Got it?"
"Not really," Sam spoke as he bunched his brow in confusion. "Why don't we use something like a song, I know you…could whistle the theme from the Andy Griffith show." He suggested and Reese stared at the younger man in bewilderment as Mercedes rolled her eyes a bit and giggled despite the serious situation.
"I got it." She confirmed. "Thank you…wait we don't even know your name."
"Reese."
"Well thank you Mr. Reese for saving our lives." Reese simply nodded as he pulled the door open.
"Lock it," He instructed and then closed the door. Sam quickly moved to the door, locked it, then hurried back to Mercedes, and once again pulled her into the safety of his arms.
"I'm so scared Sam," Mercedes stated as stepped from his embraced and she wrapped her arms around herself, as if it would shield her from all the bad in the world. She then walked to the huge bay window that looked out over the city. "I don't want to die." She added as Sam came up to stand beside her. He reached out, grasped her shoulder, and turned her to face him.
"You're not gonna die, I would never let that happen." He proclaimed. "Besides, I like living too so." Mercedes rolled her eyes a bit in irritation.
"Sam, this guy is trying to kill me not you." She snapped.
"Yeah but if he succeeds in killing you it would be the death of me too." Sam proclaimed as he reached out and stroked Mercedes' cheek lovingly, and she blushed sweetly at his words. "You are still my heart and soul, Mercedes. And I know that you ended things with me because you're in L.A. And I'm still in Ohio, but." He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. Mercedes stared at it and then back up at Sam in confusion. "When you told me that you got a contract singing backup in L.A. I applied to UCLA." Mercedes gasped out in surprise.
"Oh Sam," She whispered as tears welded up in her eyes.
"I got this letter a couple of days ago," Sam said as he shook the envelope a bit. "I got accepted, so after graduation I'm moving to L.A. too." Mercedes lips pursed and then quickly formed a happy smile. "So you can't use distance as an excuse for us not to be together. And you can tell me you have a boyfriend out in L.A. and I'll tell you again, 'I don't care how big or bad your boyfriend is, I'm gonna win you back'." He ended with his trademark-crooked smile.
"Boy, you are so crazy." She said around a sniffle and a giggle. As she stared lovingly up at Sam a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Crazy about you," He said as he wiped away her tears and then cupped her chin in his head, tilted her head upward, and then leaned in and kissed her. After a few moments, Sam pulled back, but still held Mercedes close as he gazed down at her and asked. "Sooo there's no boyfriend out in L.A. is there?" He asked hopefully.
"No, but I just learned that my boyfriend in Ohio will be moving out to L.A. this Summer." She replied with a smile, which broadened as the huge goofy smile spread across Sam's face. Sam reached down and wrapped Mercedes up into his arms he then lifted her off the floor and twirled her around the room.
