Chapter Ten

As we pulled up to the house, adrenaline ran through me. Police surrounded the house as Lassie and I got out of the car. I looked up at the house and prayed to whoever was listening for Jules to be in there. To be in there and to be alive. That's all I wanted. Lassie walked over to me and took his gun out. "Spencer. You're staying out here."

"No I'm not," I said, grabbing his shoulder to stop him from walking away. "I made a promise to Juliet that I wouldn't let anything happen to her and I failed at keeping it. Lassie, I am going in to save her whether you like it or not." He thought for a moment.

"You know how to shoot?"

"What do you think?" He thought for another short moment and then sighed. He pulled out his spare gun and gave it to me.

"You don't know how awesome you just were," I said.

"I figured you were going to do something illegal anyways," he rolled his eyes and started walking towards the house. "Cover me."

"Shouldn't we wait for Chief Vick," I asked, jogging up to him.

"We don't have time. She'll be here in a few minutes." He twisted the door knob to find that it was unlocked. I instantly knew something wasn't right. He opened the door and we quickly went in. There was no use in being quiet. We had the vicinity of the neighborhood surrounded with every possible cop car. If they were here, they knew we were here too. As we were clearing the rooms, everything felt too still.

I went to open a door, but it was locked. I quickly rammed my shoulder against it and it opened. I shinned my flashlight inside to find it empty, but before I left something across the room caught my eye. I found the light switch and turned it on. What I saw made my stomach drop. I called out Lassiter's name. I heard several pairs of feet running up the steps, so I figured that the Chief had arrived.

"What in the hell," Lassie said as the got to the door. I slowly walked towards the wall. This creep had been stalking Jules. And for some time too! The pictures started with her on her phone walking out of a hospital. It was the same pantsuit she wore the day my dad was shot. There were pictures of everything ranging from when she was undercover dating those men to her shopping at the grocery store to her leaving Lassie's wedding reception. This enraged me. I turned around and swiped my arm across the desk I was next to sending everything that was on it to the floor. I looked up and Lassie, Chief, Gus, and Buzz.

"This was too easy," I said. I ran my fingers through my hair.

"What do you mean?"

"This," I said opening my arms. "This whole thing! Finding this place! It was too damn easy! They wouldn't have been here! They wouldn't have brought her here! That bastard is too smart for that." I punched the surface of the desk.

"Mr. Spencer, do you know where they could have taken her," Chief asked after I started to regain my cool. I closed my eyes and shook my head even though I wasn't sure. I searched through my thoughts and memories as quickly as I could, but there was nothing.

"No I-I can't." My anger quickly turned into fear and despair.

"Anything can help. Think, Shawn." I looked at her and knew that I was their last option. I was Jules' last hope. She had a little under an hour left and I was the only one that could save her. I closed my eyes and thought of her. And that's when it hit me.

"The clock tower!"

"Excuse me?!"

"You know! The clock tower! The one that Mr. Yin… She's there and we don't have much time!

Xxx

"I really hope you're right, Mr. Spencer," Chief Vick said. I looked up at the top of the clock tower and replied after seeing the small movement of a shadow.

"I am." A scream followed a second after. They didn't need any more convincing that I was right. The four of us ran through the front doors with about a dozen SWAT members behind us. Chief pressed the elevator button. My impatience grew, so I ran for the steps. After a few seconds, they followed.

I wanted to look up to see how much longer I'd be climbing, but I knew that would only bring me despair. I felt like he was going too slowly, but in reality I was going full speed. By climbing at least two steps in each stride, I was three or four levels higher than everyone else.

When I reached the top, I became disoriented from all the different doors and all the loud noises from the clock in front of me. I looked to my right to see that a door was slightly opened. Without thinking I ran through it. Luckily it was the right door. I had played this moment out at least three billion times on the way to the tower, but it didn't go as I could ever imagine it.

It felt like a dream. Everything was going so slow. I felt numb; as if it wasn't real. "Don't you touch her," I yelled out, but I couldn't hear the words. Two people, a man and woman, both turned around and pulled out guns. Three shots were fired and two bodies fell to the ground. I dropped my gun and ran over to Juliet. I was thankful she wasn't over the balcony or up high. "Jules! It's okay. I have you," I said as I brought her back down.

She collapsed into me and I gently led her to the ground. I took the bundle of cloth out of her mouth and took a quick inventory of the visible damage. Her forehead had a gash out of it, her neck was severely bruised and in parts bleeding. There was a small paper cut like scratch going down her neck, but from the rate that it was bleeding it was a lot deeper than what it looked. She had countless number of bruises everywhere.

I looked up to see if the medics where there yet. Chief had just arrived, so I figured that they were almost there. A small, weary voice drew my attention back to the love of my life in front of me.

"Shawn…"

"Shh. Sweetheart, it's all right. I got you. Everything's going to be fine." I caressed her cheek and wiped a few tears from her eyes as I spoke. I heard Carlton call for the paramedics to hurry up. "Everything's going to be okay." At this point I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince. I looked into her eyes. I could tell that she wasn't completely there.

"Shawn. I'm… I'm so…" A cough interrupted her. I watched blood splatter onto the front of myself and run down the side of her mouth. Juliet's eye started to roll back into her head.

"Jules, sweetheart," I said gently patting her face. "Stay with me! You got to stay with me." It didn't work. "Hey. HEY! I need help over here," I shouted just as the paramedics got there. I knew they needed room, but I didn't want to leave her side. Lassiter pulled me up by the back of my shirt and forced me to back up a couple of feet.

"Nice… work, Spencer," he said not taking his eyes off of his partner. I heard something in Lassie's voice. Something I never heard before. He was trying to hold back tears. If we were in any situation other than this one, I would have called him out on it, but I was trying to hold back tears of my own as I watched them take Jules away. I folded my arms but quickly moved my hand away when I touched something wet. I looked to find my arm was dripping with blood.

"What the hell," I said as I touched my arm again. Lassie looked over to see what I was doing.

"Don't touch it," he scolded me like I was a child. I looked at him with wide, confused eyes. This wasn't Jules' blood. This was definitely my blood. "I'll give you a ride to the hospital. Just… don't yet blood on anything."

"And how am I supposed to do that?!" I followed him, weaving through a much of CSI and officers who were investigating.

"I have a towel in the car," he sighed. I rolled my eyes. I didn't think that was going to help.

I looked at the bodies of my Jules' kidnappers. I wanted to spit on them. I wanted them to be alive so I could kill them again. In the back of my mind I knew I wasn't easily going to get away with murder like this, but the only thing on my mind was Juliet clinging to life and I wasn't there next to her.