Hello dear readers, sorry that it took me so long to update! My beta, Cosette141, had a great idea for this chapter and we kept rewriting it until everything fitted perfectly. Thank you soooo much again, Cosette141! You're the best! I couldn't have done this without you! :D
Also thanks to everyone who waited, reviewed and followed! You guys are awesome! :) And I dare to say this chapter is worth the wait... ;)
Chapter 3:
Two weeks later:
Shawn lied on his back, staring at the ceiling. For the umpteenth time he memorized the grain of the wooden slats above him. There was nothing else he could do. He didn't know where exactly he was and he didn't know when he would be free again.
Actually, there isn't much difference between being captured here and being captured by a murderous prison brotherhood. Except the whole killing thing, Shawn mused. At least the sofa is cushy. He spent most of his time on it anyway.
"I can't believe I'm still trapped here." Shawn shifted his weight on the plushy couch in the main room of his personal little prison.
The house was decorated homey but plain. It had a small living space with an open kitchen, a flat screen TV (something he specifically asked for, among other luxury items as a condition for him to move in that even he was surprised they did) and boring-colored walls and floors. His only private room was his bedroom. A staircase led down to a narrow hallway and the rooms of his bodyguards for when they took turns in babysitting him. Strategically placed between his floor and the only exit door to the safehouse. Duh.
As Shawn was lying on the couch, staring at the plain, boring, white ceiling, he felt like the blank colors were draining all of his life and joy out of him. He turned to one of the detectives guarding him—Detective Decker—who was in the kitchen reading the newspaper. "So," Shawn started, "did anyone—"
"No," snapped Decker. "No one left you a message, there is nothing you can do to help the case and, for the millionth time, no, you can't go outside."
Shawn shut his mouth. Decker had nearly listed, word-for-word, exactly what Shawn wanted to say. Shawn crossed his arms stubbornly. "Someone's Detective Crabbypants today."
Detective Riley—Shawn's other guard—rolled his eyes as he walked over to him with his coffee mug in hand. "You've been here for almost two weeks now. The rules should start to sink in. Even into your stubborn brain."
"What can I say?" Shawn said, shrugging. "I have a terrible memory." He felt a small smile twitch his lips at the irony.
The two detectives fell silent again and Shawn groaned, rolling his eyes and sinking down onto the couch again while covering his face with a pillow. Decker and Riley might have been some of the best at their jobs to protect the city from criminals, but they were horrible at small-talk.
When Shawn first arrived here, he was absolutely hyper. He paced in his room, babbled constantly and tried to build up an ongoing conversation with them. In his desperation to keep himself entertained he even started to clean up after himself because he was so extremely bored.
This is worse than the Ritalin pills I had to take as a kid, Shawn thought. Just put ADD kids into safehouses with the two most boring people on the planet and they will go from completely insane to hopelessly lethargic within a week.
Riley lifted the pillow from Shawn's head, looking down at him and trying to put up a genuinely friendly face. "You look like you could also use some coffee."
"No." Shawn stated clearly. "Definitely no coffee. Unless you want me climbing up the walls. And for all the coffee you drink, you'd think you'd be the hyperactive one." Decker and Riley exchanged a look and Shawn shook his head. "I'll be in my room, doing a workout. Tell me if you finally bored enough to have a conversation."
With that he stood up and walked to his room. He closed the door and programmed the treadmill. Thank god for this treadmill, Shawn thought gratefully. At least he could pretend that he could run anywhere he wanted. He'd done this often over the last two weeks. Closing his eyes, running in place and pretending to feel the sun and wind on his face as he ran back home to Juliet and Gus.
God, I miss them. He increased the pace.
It was Juliet who finally convinced him after he vastly refused to lock himself up while his friends were out there in danger.
"I don't want to lose you, Shawn." she had said to him. "Not after all we've been through. So please… please say that you sit this one out. Go into the safehouse while we're fighting this fight for you. Just this one time. Can you do that… for me?"
Shawn ran faster. Of course, he'd caved. He loved her and he could truly understand her worry. He would ask her to do the same thing if she were in his position. But two weeks later, Shawn felt like he couldn't possibly go on any longer without hearing her sweet voice or touching her beautiful face. He was denied both phone calls and visitors so he missed her desperately. And he certainly didn't care how lovesick that just sounded in his head.
Shawn opened his eyes again and turned off the treadmill. He supported himself on the machine, panting and waiting for his heart to slow down. If this keeps up much longer, I'll go completely berserk!
He had just caught his breath again when he heard voices from the living room. Shawn straightened up. It sounded like Riley and Decker were having an actual conversation. "Whaaat?! Unbelievable, have my prayers been heard?" Shawn asked himself aloud and swung open the door.
"Okay, you have to tell me. Who broke first?" Shawn asked enthusiastically. Decker and Riley stood side by side with their backs to him. When Shawn spoke they stepped aside, giving view to a much smaller person.
Shawn stopped and furrowed his brows. "Chief?"
"Mr. Spencer." she responded with a small smile.
Shawn grinned broadly, rushing over to the blonde woman and hugging her before she could stop him. "Oh, Chief, you have no idea how awesome it is to see you! I was soo bored! And those two know nothing about entertainment!" he complained, giving his guards the evil eye.
"Okay, Mr. Spencer. Let go of me." the Chief said uncomfortably.
Shawn stepped back. "What's going on? What happened to the 'no visitors' rule?" he asked.
"Shawn, I'm afraid I'm still only here as your superior, not as a friend." the Chief reminded him bitterly.
Shawn's face fell. Of course, if she came by to talk to me in person then something must have happened. His mind was already spinning with worst-case scenarios about Juliet, Gus, his dad. When he was forced to leave them behind, he knew that Northcutt's gang wouldn't just give up only because he's not available to them. "Oh, no. What happened?"
Vick looked at him grimly. "Mr. Guster was attacked."
"Oh, god." Shawn's stomach turned. "Is he alright? Please tell me that he's alright!"
"He's fine… relatively." the Chief said. "Mr. Guster is in the hospital right now and is getting treated for a mild concussion." When Shawn looked too shocked to answer, she continued, "Mr. Guster was on his way to his car after work this afternoon when two members of the gang, Tom Fong and Michael Rollins, came up to him from behind. They attempted to abduct him, but the bodyguard who is responsible for Mr. Guster's safety surprised them and shot Fong. Rollins took off running, but we were able to arrest Fong. This is a huge success; Fong is one of the most dangerous members of the group. Lassiter is interrogating him as we speak."
Shawn slowly glanced up at his boss. Shawn could tell she was trying her hardest to keep up her confident smile as she told him the good news. But Shawn couldn't care less about the arrest. "So, Gus was hurt." he said flatly.
"Mr. Spencer, I know this is hard for you, but on the upside—"
"There is no upside!" Shawn interrupted Chief Vick furiously. "Gus was hurt! He was almost kidnapped or killed or worse! You promised me that those guards would keep them safe. All of them! What about Jules and my dad?"
"They are still guarded 24/7." Chief Vick assured him. "We were prepared for this. We have teams actively searching for the rest—"
"Really? Or are you just going to wait until they try again?" Shawn asked, eyes glowering dangerously.
"Mr. Spencer!" Vick warned. "Calm down. You know that this is the only option we have!"
"I will not calm down!" Shawn argued, angrily noticing that Decker and Riley stepped closer to him in case he would do something rash. "I knew that this would happen! I should've been bait not them, not Gus! They have nothing to do with this. They shouldn't be getting in any danger!"
"I understand your frustration, Shawn, but we are doing the best that we can!" Chief Vick exclaimed loudly, glaring at Shawn venomously. Shawn glared right back at her as she continued, "I know that you don't like this. I don't either. But no matter how we attempt to handle this situation, lives will be at risk. We are doing our best to put an end to this. Mr. Guster, your father and even Detective O'Hara will be assigned a second guard watching over them day and night. Trust me, I want this to be over just as much as you do."
Just as much as I do? Not possible, Shawn thought, but he sat down anyway, ruffling a hand through his hair with a sigh. He thought about Gus, lying in a hospital bed with a concussion and he couldn't even be there for him and apologize. What if Northcutt's gang had managed to take him? If they kidnapped him or even worse? And what would they have donenext? The thought quickly lead to an even more terrifying one. "Jules." Shawn whispered, looking up to his boss. "Jules could be next! If you're going to keep me stuck in this place, at least bring Juliet in here, too!"
"She's a cop." Vick said sympathetically. "A damn good one. We need her out there. Like I said, she's under surveillance at all times—"
"Yeah, like that did Gus any good!" Shawn scoffed. "I should be out there too, being useful! I could end this!"
"Mr. Spencer, we talked about this!" Vick said sternly. "I won't let you out as long as you've got a target on your back!"
"Then let me at least call Juliet. I want to make sure that she's okay." Shawn pleaded desperately.
"And risking that the call is traced back? No, I can't allow that. You have to understand that nothing is safe until we catch Northcutt."
Shawn swore under his breath. "I can't just sit here and do nothing, Chief! I can't. I need to do something!" He stressed desperately when the Chief moved to leave.
"Mr. Spencer, stay put. We are doing our best." And with a worried sigh, she added, "I'm sorry, Shawn. I truly am." Then she turned around and Riley accompanied her to her car.
Shawn remained on the couch, thinking and staring ahead. Stupid guards! They couldn't protect Gus and they're not good enough to protect Jules! Why can't the Chief understand that I'm the best solution to this? If I had been out there, Gus wouldn't have been hurt. And Jules… god, what if Northcutt manages to abduct her! I can't let anything happen to her. I won't.
He noticed that Decker watched him suspiciously. If I try to leave now, they'll notice, Shawn pondered. He stood up, going back into his room without a word. But later… later, they can't stop me.
I'm getting out of this place before this day ends.
I will see Jules tonight.
That was a fact that Shawn was absolutely sure of. It had to happen; he couldn't go on like this. He needed to see her with his own eyes, feel her with his hands and kiss her with his lips, making sure that she was fine. And making sure she stayed that way. So, for the rest of the day, his desperate mind worked on a fool-proof plan.
Step one: Get out of the house unseen.
Amazingly, that was way easier than he thought. Luckily, his guards were far more concerned about someone breaking into the safehouse.
Not someone breaking out.
Shawn knew the routine of his guards by heart. His chances were best at night when one of them goes downstairs to sleep a few hours. All he had to do was get past the observing one. I get past people all the time, this shouldn't be hard.
Shawn was relieved to see that Riley was currently on watch-duty; he was the weaker guard. He was younger than Decker and more trusting than him. And…
He adores his coffee.
Shawn was sitting in the living room with Riley for only a few minutes before Riley announced that he would brew himself a pot for his nightshift.
"No, don't worry. You don't have to get up." Shawn said quickly. "You work all day long. Let me make you some coffee. I can totally do that for you."
Riley only sat back on the couch with a shrug. "Alright, if it makes you happy. Make it black." he said, focusing back on the TV. Shawn silently thanked his lucky stars again that Decker was asleep; he was far stricter with Shawn than Riley was.
"You got it." Shawn smiled, bustling into the kitchen. His smile faded as he attentively glanced back to Riley, who was sitting on the couch with his back towards him. Shawn started the coffeemaker and fished for the small plastic sheet in his pocket.
Sleeping pills.
It wasn't really that challenging to convince the detectives that, with everything that had just happened that afternoon about Gus, he needed sleeping pills to get a good night sleep. Decker and Riley gladly got him the pills a few hours earlier in hopes that he would stop getting on their nerves. Maybe I really should have been nicer to them, Shawn considered. He shook his head and concentrated back on the task at hand.
While the coffeemaker was drowning out every other sound he made, Shawn crushed the pills and poured the dust into the coffee mug. Hmm, I better give him the double dosage or they won't take effect together with all that caffeine. Shawn filled up the mug and brought it over to Riley. "Here, man. Drink it up."
"Thanks." Riley said, taking a sip. He grimaced. "Hey, I said I didn't want sugar."
"Oh, sorry. Terrible memory, remember?" Shawn excused himself, still holding his breath. But apparently, Riley decided that he would make do with the beverage and drank it anyway. Luckily, most people are lazy.
Shawn waited for a bit again, then excused himself, muttering that he was tired and was going to sleep. Riley yawned as a response, but hid it quickly. Sweet dreams, big guy, Shawn thought mischievously, eavesdropping behind his door.
It took a whole hour for Riley to finally nod off, coffee mug still in his hand and its contents dripping to the floor. Stealthily, Shawn opened the door. He had to smile to himself, thinking about Gus and his jackal switch. I'll make you proud, buddy.
Shawn continued to tiptoe into the living room and to the stairs, eyes never leaving Riley's sleeping figure. He crept down the staircase, overstepping the stairs that he knew would creak. Now, he had to pass Decker's door to get to the only exit his stupid safehouse had. Shawn held his breath, creeping forward in a ridiculously slow pace, while he could hear Decker snoring. Wow, he sounds like a beast. No wonder Northcutt hasn't tried breaking in here. Shawn opened the entrance door just so much that he could squeeze past it and closed it again.
Shawn pumped the air victoriously. By golly, I did it! [Author's note: still winking at you cosette141 ;)]
Step two: Get to Jules' house.
Or actually, step one and a half: Figure out where the heck I am.
Shawn was brought here in the backseat of a car with blacked-out windows. It really felt like being kidnapped. So he needed to figure out where to go first. He poked along the house wall, hiding behind bushes until he could see the open street. Shawn waited another several minutes to observe his surroundings and make sure that no one had followed him. But, seemingly, he was on his own.
As casually as his nerves let him, Shawn walked along the streets, his hoodie drawn into his face so he wouldn't be recognized, until he found a familiar Jamba Juice store. I'm at least an hour from Jules' place. No way that I can walk from here. He kept walking until he crossed a busier street where cars were driving even at this time of night.
He knew he was already pushing his luck, but, without much other choice, Shawn waved for a cab. His desire to see Juliet was overwhelming; he threw caution to the wind. After he made sure that the driver didn't belong to the escaped brotherhood, he gave the cabbie Juliet's address.
Somewhere down the same street, three shady figures sat inside a car and watched their prey escape from his safe shelter. Behind the wheel, Northcutt smiled coldly, excitement igniting his veins. The psychic finally made a mistake.
"There he is!" Daniel Wayne said from the back seat, pointing at Shawn.
"We're lucky that he's so stupid." Rollins mocked. "We should go and get him." He said, about to throw open the passenger door, his gun cocked and ready.
"No." Northcutt stopped him fiercely, grabbing his shoulder. "We can't take him out in front of the safehouse. We don't know if this isn't just a dumb police trick."
"So, what are we doing then? I want to put a bullet in him!" Rollins argued impatiently.
"You're not the only one." Wayne growled.
"I won't just shoot him right here, that's too easy. Didn't we all want to play with him first, boys?" Northcutt grinned when his partners nodded in agreement. "We follow him. Let's see where he takes us… and then we get to have some fun."
Sooo? What do you think? Please, I have to know... :)