Chapter 8
Previous Night
(This happened in the past but wasn't part of Caitlin's memory because she wasn't there so I didn't put it in italicized print.)
The men didn't notice that Caitlin had jumped out of the trunk. They slowly headed down the deserted dirt road and out towards the river. Before they got close to the river, Tek spotted a car up ahead of them.
"That's a patrol car ahead of us," said Tek. "What are we going to do?"
Shorty slowed down the car and turned off the lights. "We dump them here," he said. "We'll just have to bash the girl's head in."
"I'm not killing a woman," replied Tek. "You're going to have to do it."
"No problem," replied Shorty. "It's just too bad I don't get to have more time with her."
"You're sick," said Tek. "I can't believe we're related."
The two men got out and went to the back of the car. "The trunk's open," said Tek.
"What the hell?" asked Shorty. "Damn it, she got out."
"Let's just hurry up and dump him in the ditch," insisted Tek. "We don't have time to worry about her now."
The two men removed String from the trunk and threw him down in the narrow ditch beside the road.
"Let's go," yelled Shorty as they quickly got back into the car and turned it around, heading back to the farmhouse without the car lights on.
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Present Time
Caitlin sat up in the loft window and looked out towards the beautiful scenery that surrounded the cabin. She continued to cry on and off as she thought about what had happened to them.
"Why now?" she thought. "We were just getting things back on track with us and I lose him. It's just not fair."
She heard and then saw Michael's helicopter approach and land. He got out and slowly made his way towards the cabin. Doc opened the door and greeted him when he got to the steps.
"How's Caitlin?" asked Michael.
"As good as can be expected I guess," Doc replied. "It's starting to feel like a morgue in here even though I know Dom is trying to keep it together for Caitlin's sake."
"She's lucky to have the two of you," he replied. "By the way, we found the car they used. It was dumped about a mile away from the farmhouse."
"Any sign of String?" asked Dom as Michael came inside the cabin.
"I'm afraid not," he replied. "There was quite a bit of blood found in the trunk which validates Caitlin's story. My men are headed back down the river to see if they can recover his body."
Dom shook his head. "How could this have happened?" he said growing angry. "All we did was go out and have a few drinks to let off some steam from work. And then there's Saint John. We don't even know what happened to him."
"I don't know Dominick," replied Michael. "But my men are checking the car for prints and hopefully we'll get an idea on who they are and where they might have taken Saint John."
Before Dom could respond the phone rang. Caitlin moved towards the loft stairs in order to hear the conversation.
Dom handed Michael the phone. "It's for you," he said.
"When did that happen?" said Michael after listening a few minutes to the caller on the other end. "Where? I'm on my way."
Michael put down the phone and explained as he headed towards the door. "Apparently, some teenagers found a man in a ditch the other night," he said. "They live in the next county and took him to the hospital over there. There's no ID so the hospital has been treating him as a John Doe."
"You think it's Saint John?" asked Dom.
"Yeah," replied Michael. "I'm on my way to check it out."
"You mean we're on our way to check it out," replied Dom.
"I'm coming too," yelled Caitlin as she made her way down the steps of the loft. The three men looked up at her.
"Are you sure Cait?" asked Doc. "We can stay here and wait."
"No, I need to be there," she softly.
"Okay then," said Michael. "Let's get going."
The four of them climbed into the Firm's helicopter and headed out. Doc leaned over and whispered to Dom. "I'm worried about her," he said softly. "She might be hoping that the man they found is String."
"Hell, I'm hoping that too," said Dom in return. "Not that I don't want to find Saint John. I just want so badly for String to be alive."
"I know," replied Doc. "Just don't get your hopes up."
When they got to the hospital, they asked for the doctor in charge and headed towards the intensive care unit. They were greeted by a Dr. Mallory.
"I sure hope you can identify our John Doe," said Dr. Mallory. "Whoever he is, he's a fighter. He's lost a lot of blood from a gunshot wound to the side but he's still hanging on."
Caitlin turned and looked at the doors leading to the intensive care unit. She pushed past the men and ran through the double doors. Once inside she made her way up and down the narrow walkway that held several beds on each side. When she got to the end she stopped and stared at the pale figure lying in the bed in front of her.
Tears fell down her face as she moved towards him and took his hand. She finally let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding as she spoke to him softly. "You didn't leave me," she said sobbing. "You held on."
Caitlin leaned over and kissed String on the forehead. "Just keep hanging on String," she begged. "I need you so badly."
Caitlin didn't realize that the others had followed her until Dom came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "He's going to make it now," said Dom. "He has to. String didn't make it this far to give up now."
