Chapter 7: A Surprising Turn of Events
"It's been twelve hours. Call your team and see if they have a name," the leader unhandcuffs Mac and gives him a cell phone.
"Danny, do you have anything?"
"Not yet. We're running all DNA samples through CODIS again and reexamining trace and fingerprints. Nothing new yet."
Mac sighs in frustration, "Keep working on it."
"Where are you guys?"
"I'm not sure."
"Are you hurt?"
"We're both fine at the moment. But they threatened to hurt Stella if it wasn't solved by tonight."
"Who is holding you guys hostage?"
Before he can answer, the phone is taken away. "You have nothing new to identify her killer?" Mac shakes his head, looking at the ground. "I guess one of you gets her for the night."
Stella tries to remain calm and keep her courage. "What are you going to do with me?"
The men ignore her question. "We'll flip a coin. Heads, Derek; tails, Bryan." The coin is tossed and caught. Slowly he lifts his hand to reveal the winner. "Tails."
The tall, thin yet muscular man approaches Stella, putting his cold hand on her cheek. "I feel sorry for you," he pulls her up by the arm.
"Wait," Mac yells, "Take me instead. Do whatever you want to me, and leave her unharmed."
"What man would trade her in for you?" He smiles at her and starts to push her to the door. "Say goodbye to your friend."
"Sorry, Stel," Mac says softly.
She remains silent as she is taken up to a bedroom. He sits her down on the bed and pulls out a key. The handcuffs are removed from her wrists. Much to his surprise, she doesn't try to escape.
They stare at each other until Stella breaks the silence. "Aren't you supposed to be… raping me or something?"
Bryan sits next to her. "That's what my boss wants me to do."
"Then why aren't you listening to his orders?"
"Raping you won't bring his sister back. Besides, what the boss doesn't know won't hurt him."
"So… what exactly do you plan to do with me?"
He pulls off his mask and gloves. "Well, I was actually thinking of… helping you… escape. Is it too late to get a deal and not go to jail?"
"You kidnapped two police officers; I don't think they'll make a deal."
"But I'm also going to set you free. Can't I at least get a reduced sentence?"
"I don't know. The DA decides. If you do help us, I might put in a good word."
He looks into her green eyes. "Okay. First, you'll need these," he hands her the keys to the handcuffs.
"Hold on. You're going to give me everything I need to escape right now. You have me locked in a room with you and were told to take advantage of me, and you're not going to do that?"
"It's tempting. I mean, you are… pretty and all."
She frowns in thought. "All you want in return is a lower sentence?"
"And maybe a kiss… from you, if it's not… too much."
Stella puts her hand to her head, thinking things over. Criminals had ways to trick you. And this seemed awfully suspicious: what guy wouldn't take advantage of the situation? "What's the catch?" she looks at him.
"There isn't one."
"Both Mac and I escape for a kiss and a deal with the DA?"
Bryan nods. "You want to shake on it?" he extends his hand to her.
Hesitating, she takes his hand. "Deal."
A/N: As promised, the next chapter. Bet you never thought that would happen. Of course it most likely wouldn't happen in real life, unless it was Mac who kidnapped you. But I couldn't let Stella get hurt like that. So now you have to wait and see whether their plan for escape will work or not. I might post the next chapter tomorrow or maybe not until Thursday. I have another short story typed; this one's about what I hope, I guess it would be, will happen next season when they find Mac based off of spoilers I read. Then I've got one about taking risks that comes shortly after The Thing About Heroes... Mac's trying to convince Stella to take a chance and go out with him. At least I think it's that way. Then there's one about her father. Only five chapters, but still okay. And I've got like three other stories written that I haven't had time to type. And my brother's baseball game was cancelled so... no typing later. Anyway... I'll go now. Please continue reviewing with this sudden turn of events. Thanks.
