Yes! Another chapter up the next DAY! I'm so happy I got through this one - it's one of my favorites! Yay!
Shawn grimaced as he tried to sit up, and then with a gasp he let himself fall again as white-hot pain stabbed through his abdomen.
Dammit… he groaned and gave up trying to put himself in a sitting position again. It had been several hours since Nick - or whatever his real name was - had left him, but still his betrayal stung deep.
"I know how to get us out of here."
He shouldn't feel so betrayed; he tried to reason with himself. After all, Nick was a con man, and on top of that, he hardly knew him. Why should Nick risk his own life to get him out, too? Still, though. After Nick had tried to stop the bleeding, he'd thought he at least cared a little bit for him – enough to try and get him out, too.
"Don't be a bald squirrel who only knows how to tap dance," Shawn shot back without missing a beat. "I can use my brain, and I don't see any way how both of us are getting out of this."
"It'll happen," he said confidently.
Why would Nick make that promise twice, though? He'd promised to get both of them out. And Shawn had completely fallen for it.
Well, why wouldn't I? Shawn thought sourly. He lies for a living. It was probably really easy for him to con me into thinking that I could trust him. Now here I am with another gunshot wound to add to the one in my stomach. Yippee.
The man holding him had been angry when Nick had escaped, and because he couldn't get to Nick, he shot Shawn again instead, though this time in his bicep. Still, it hurt like a bitch. He winced when it was jostled again. The van was moving again – where, Shawn had no idea, but the sign he had seen in the brief moments when the van door had been open, he knew that he was somewhere in Oklahoma. The gas station they'd been at had been all but deserted – there had been a worker inside, but apparently that worker was helping with the orchestrated kidnapping, and he wasn't going to help Shawn out or report the gunfire at the fleeing kidnappee.
Is that even a word? Shawn wondered distantly. Then the van bounced again, sending flashes of pain through his entire torso and his arm. The pain was so intense that a moment later, he passed out.
Neal was breathing heavily as he tried to concentrate on what Peter was saying.
"No, Peter...Peter. I didn't run. I was kidnapped, and...Shawn...he..."
"Wait, Neal - who's Shawn?" Peter demanded. "Is he the one that kidnapped you? Where are you now? Are you - "
"Peter, I need you to listen to me," Neal said, gasping for breath. "I'm on a pay phone in Oklahoma - I don't have much time. Shawn Spencer - he was kidnapped from California and we were both in a moving van together. He was shot...and I don't know how long he can hold out. He lost a lot of blood."
"Wait - stay there," Peter demanded. "I'm putting up a tracker on the phone you're on. Are you alright? Were you shot?"
Neal shook his head, even though Peter couldn't see. "No," he said breathlessly. "I've just been...running for a while without water or food."
"Are you at a gas station?"
"No," Neal said. "I'm just at this pay phone that's in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing to eat or drink, Peter - I already looked."
"Stay there," Peter said. "I'll have agents out there tomorrow morning at the latest - we can get you back and then we can figure out..."
"No. No," Neal said, shaking his head again. "I need you to find the moving van. It's a U-Haul - one of the medium-sized ones. It has a dinosaur on the side of it and the license plate is covered in mud. I need to go back for Shawn - they could've hurt him because they were mad that I got away. I can't let him die, Peter."
"He won't die," Peter insisted. "I just need you to stay there until - "
"Sorry, Peter. I can't." Neal said tiredly. "Just remember to find the van before - "
"Your allotted time has run out. Please insert more change."
Neal shook his head and hung up the phone. "Sorry, Peter," he mumbled, and then began to dial a new number.
Juliet jumped when her desk phone rang, and she rubbed her eyes tiredly as she picked it up.
"Detective O'Hara, SBPD," she said in an almost monotonous tone.
"Do you work with Shawn Spencer?"
Juliet's eyebrows rose at the breathless voice on the other line. "Who is this?" she demanded. Shawn had been gone for a few days now without a word, but she hadn't worried too much until right then. The voice was unfamiliar...who could it be?
"My name's Neal Caffrey - I work for the FBI," the other voice said, still with that same odd breathlessness. "I'm a friend of Shawn's. Shawn and I were kidnapped, and he was shot in the stomach."
Juliet gasped. "Is he okay?"
"He was when I left, but that was several hours ago. Sorry for the bluntness, but I'm in a hurry to get back to him and help him. Listen, I live in New York City, and I was kidnapped right outside my house, and Shawn told me he was kidnapped in Santa Barbara. I don't know of any connection of cases we have, but I need you to call the New York White Collar division of the FBI - ask for a Peter Burke. I need you to compare case files and try to find one that connects. I'm going to try and get Shawn and me away from these guys, but I can't guarantee anything, so this is important."
"New York White Collar, Peter Burke, find connections in case files - got it," Juliet said with a nod.
"Tell him that Neal told you," he added.
Juliet nodded. "Okay. And...Neal?"
"Yeah?"
"Please...make sure that Shawn..."
His voice was sympathetic as he caught her meaning. "Yeah," he said. "I will."
Then he hung up. Juliet stared at her phone for a minute before putting it back on the hook.
"Carlton!" she called across the office to his desk. "Drop everything you're doing right now - we've got a new case that has top priority!"
So...you like? Yes? …Enough to review? Please?
