Chapter 3: Cold and Frightened

All alone

Smoking his last cigarette

"Nothing," Mac says, frustrated. "He's taken her, and we have no idea where he's headed. Son of a bitch." He paces her living room, furious at himself for letting her out of his sight.

Hawkes cautiously approaches his boss with Stella's shoes, "He took the laces. Why?"

"To tie her up with. She found shoes without laces at the other victims' apartments, and that's the only theory we came up with; we never found the laces though. They're probably wherever he's taking her."

"So he's following his MO," Danny says. "Sid put TOD at about a day before we found the bodies, right? And they had all been missing for four days when we found the bodies. That gives us three days to find her; we'll figure it out by then."

"How? We couldn't figure it out before we caught him. He refused to tell us. How are we supposed to find it now?" Mac asks, his voice rising.

Sheldon studies the table in the entranceway, frowning. "He used her cuffs. Everything else is here. Even her gun."

"Why the hell didn't she use it?" the boss asks. His cell phone interrupts his thoughts, "Do you have a lead, Don?"

"A car was reported stolen two blocks from the department; we think Stoneberg took it and headed to Stella's. I've got an APB out on the car and both of them. Did you guys find anything?"

"Nothing to lead us to her. Call all of the hospitals and give them descriptions of both of them; at least one of them was bleeding, and we think it was a head wound."

"Alright. Stella's strong, Mac; she'll find a way to keep herself alive until we find her."

You Found Me

The SUV jerks to a stop, and she hears the front door slam shut, the motor still running. A minute later the door slams again, and the car moves forward into the darkness. The motor is turned off, and she anxiously lies there, waiting for him to get her.

A few moments later, the door is opened, and she is lifted up into the darkness. As he walks, she hears his footsteps echo; the building must be large and empty. After almost a minute, he sets her down, and the ground beneath her, which she assumes is concrete, is cold; he leans her back to rest against a wall, whose makeup she can't distinguish.

The footsteps move away from her, and with a loud click, she is blinded by light. Once she is able to see again, she concludes that she is in an old, abandoned warehouse. Not very helpful considering there are many in New York City. Something beside her moves, and she immediately turns to face it. A scared, young woman is staring back at her, duct tape covering her mouth and her arms held above her head by chains.

Stoneberg approaches them, and the girl begins to whimper. Stella watches as he pulls the tape off of her mouth. "I'm sure you have many questions for her. I've got to run an errand; don't try anything stupid," he smiles, glancing to his side. Stella follows his gaze and sees a blinking red light, immediately recognizing it as the light of a video camera. Within a minute, the silver SUV is gone.

"What's your name?" Stella asks, her voice hoarse due to her sore, dry throat.

"Megan."

"I'm Stella; I'm a detective with the NYPD. Do you know where he keeps the keys?" she asks, eyes darting around the spacious room.

"On his key ring, which he keeps in his pocket."

"Has he… raped you?"

"Once. Are we going to die?"

Stella shrugs, "I don't know. How long have you been here?"

"I'm not sure; it feels like it's been years."

"Do you know what day it was before he took you?"

Megan thinks for a moment, "I think it was Saturday; I was putting on makeup for my date that night when out of nowhere I saw his reflection beside me in the mirror. I don't know what happened after that; I passed out, and I was here when I woke up."

"Today is Tuesday," Stella says, choosing not to tell her that he had killed all of his other victims after three days.

"Are you undercover?"

"No," Stella coughs.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are."

They hear a car motor outside and remain quiet as the SUV pulls back into the warehouse. Stoneberg comes over to them and inspects their bindings. "I see you didn't take any chances," he stares at Stella. A shiver runs through her body, not entirely due to his gaze. "Before I have fun with you, I have to deal with her. And since your friends took my keys…" he pulls out a knife, pointing it towards the chains binding Megan's hands.

A/N: I'm hoping to get about seven reviews for this chapter before I update. I think I'll update again on Thursday. So... I still haven't done my English essay yet; I've got my intro done though. I really need to get it done. Well, please keep the reviews coming. Thanks.