Hey! Here's a new chapter! This time, I'm doing review replies. If you don't want to read them, just skip over 'em.
nat157s: Well, thank you! I assume you liked it?
PhoebePhorever: Yes, Maltara and suspense! And Jacob is a boss!
4everyoung10: HERE. DON'T KILL MEH! XD. (By the way… TRAITOR CATS AND OSCAR DONKEYS)
Alyssa: Here's more!
BreezyFan: Yep, James is gonna be hard to deal with. Luckily he isn't in this chapter!
mozzi-girl: Thanks! Here you go!
Just a Beatles Girl: Yes, the Jacob part was sad to write. Then again, most of my stuff is. OSCAR DONKEY. XD
As always, Natara left early for work the next morning, noticing the solemn faces of her coworkers. It was the fourteenth day. Everybody expected to receive the call they had been dreading.
She entered the bullpen quietly, hanging her jacket on the back of her chair and glancing at Mal's desk, which most had grown used to seeing empty.
She fixed herself a cup of coffee, wincing slightly as the hot bitter liquid slid down her throat. She placed the cup on her desk and sorted through the messy stack of folders piled up.
Everybody in the precinct moved and spoke quietly. It was as if they were walking on thin ice. The television was on, the same old news story flashing across the screen.
This case was tearing her to pieces. All they had to do was find Mal alive. She was a criminal profiler. Her career revolved around putting killers behind bars. So why couldn't she figure this case out? Maybe it was because the only thing on her mind was Mal.
A hand on her shoulder stirred her from her thoughts. Startled, she turned to see her fiancé standing behind her. "Oh, hey..."
Oscar frowned. "You haven't been around. What's going on? You've been staying later, not answering your phone..."
Natara let out a sigh. "Oscar, I have to do this. I can't just leave. We'll go out for dinner soon as possible. I'm just..." She couldn't bring herself to leave until Mal was safely found.
"Natara, it's been two weeks."
"I know," she confessed. "But I can't. Not now. I need to stay. I promise I'll make it up to you."
He bit back a sigh. "Alright. See you then." With that, he left the station, leaving Natara to close her eyes and massage her temples in exasperation.
"Uh, Natara?" Kai appeared in the doorway. "We found something."
Natara followed him into the crime lab, where Amy sat behind one of the computers. "What is it?"
"We rewatched the video from the security camera at Mal's apartment, and you know how it shows them putting him in a red sedan?"
Natara nodded. "The license plate was removed and one of the windows was broken," she recalled.
"Yeah. We ran another check on it. And they caught this at a gas station on the outside of town." Amy pressed a button on the keyboard, and a security video began to play.
Natara watched as the red sedan parked in front of a run down gas pump. A burly man stepped out and began to fill a large gallon with gasoline, while another man sat in the car, watching.
"When was this?" Natara asked, staring at the screen.
"About two hours ago. The place is called Rick's Gas Stop. It's on Hampton Drive."
"Thanks, guys. We'll go see." Natara exited the lab, feeling slightly hopeful. This was the first news they had recieved in days, and while it wasn't much, it was still something.
Thirty minutes later, she and Blaise parked in front of the old gas station. An older man stepped out of the building.
Natara flashed her badge. "Special Agent Natara Williams, FBI. This is Detective Blaise Corso."
"The name's Rick. I run this place." The aging man eyed their badges. "Why are you here?"
"We're asking about a red sedan that was here earlier. A couple of guys got a gallon of gas and left," Blaise informed.
Rick furrowed his brow. "Yeah, they were here. They came in and got a pack of cigs and a lighter. They weren't too friendly."
"Could you tell us anything? Did they mention where they were headed?" Natara questioned.
"They didn't say anything. Just slammed the money down, got the gas, and went that way. They were in a hurry." Rick jerked his thumb toward a nearby street.
Natara nodded. "Thank you, sir." She started to get back in the car.
"If you find them, tell the creeps they shorted me six bucks!" Rick disappeared into the station.
"Maybe we should call for backup. I have a feeling we'll need it."
"You sound like Mal," Blaise commented.
Natara shrugged and reached for her phone. She could see a dilapidated house about one hundred yards away, with a red car parked in front. "I think that's them." She quickly called for backup.
Officers Joe Bartaugh and Anna Willis arrived, signaling to them that they would approach from the other side.
Natara and Blaise slipped into bulletproof vests before silently slipping their handguns out of their holsters. Natara lightly pushed the door open, and stepped into a cold, dirty house.
Almost immediately the smell of gasoline permeated her senses. She wrinkled her nose and stepped over the squeaky wooden floor boards.
She could hear hushed voices speaking in the room above them. Her heart started to pound so loudly that she feared it could be heard from upstairs.
This may be it, she thought. I could walk into that room and find him.
Suddenly there was the sound of shattering glass and wood splitting. Natara quickly sprinted to the staircase, avoiding the loose boards and rusty nails. The rickety stairs groaned as she made her way up them, but she didn't care.
Outside there was the sound of a car engine roaring to life, and officers firing gunshots. But to Natara, the sounds faded away as she entered the room. It was as cold and dirty as the first story, if not worse. The window was shattered, and the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling barely flickered.
She felt her knees grow weak when she saw him. They had found him. Barely ten feet away, Mal lay on the floor with his eyes closed.
And he wasn't moving.
DUN DUN DUN! I gotta keep y'all in suspense! I hope it wasn't too rushed. I'd talk more but I want pudding. *ninja poofs self into the kitchen and prepares pudding like a boss*
