Shawn lay in the dark, stuffy chamber and tried to focus on anything other than his overwhelming despair. No one knew where he was. If he was right, Gary had killed himself and tried to take a few other people with him. He, Shawn Spencer, was going to die. Alone. Without thanking Gus for being the best friend a guy could ask for. Without ever seriously asking Juliet out on a date. Without ever being able to tease Lassiter again about something, anything. Without ever talking to his mom again and telling her he loved her. And without seeing his Dad again, even for a stupid argument. Gary was right, he and his father had issues, but it didn't mean he didn't care about the man and Shawn knew his father cared about him. He closed his eyes and focused on shallow breathing. At least, he would try to hold on as long as he could and hope that someone would find him in time. The morbid thought crossed his mind that at least either way, this nightmare would be over.
Lassiter's car and the other police cruiser that accompanied it came to a screeching halt in front of the little single story house. The back doors of the Lassiter's car were open before it fully came to a stop. "Freeze," Lassiter yelled. Gus and Henry stopped. "You two will wait until we give the all clear. We don't know if this place has been booby-trapped or even if anyone is still living here. You're civilians. Got it?" Lassiter stared at Henry while he said that.
"Yes, sir," Gus replied. Henry just glared at the detective.
"I will call you in as soon as I find him. McNabb, you and Jones stay at the front door. O'Hara let's move."
The pair drew their weapons and walked up the porch. Juliet rang the doorbell. Lassiter shot her an annoyed look. She smirked at him. Lassiter attempted to turn the knob and he was surprised when the door opened. He signaled to his partner that he was going in and that she should cover him. Lassiter stepped through the front door. The smell that greeted his nostrils almost made him nauseous. It reeked of death. The living room was empty, so he proceeded to the back bedrooms with Juliet following behind. Finding nothing, they entered the kitchen. The first sight that greeted them was a dead body. It was an older man in his late sixties. He was seated at the kitchen table with an apparent gunshot to the head. Due to the smell and appearance of the body, he must been dead for at least two days.
Henry paced around on the front lawn, getting madder and madder by the minute. His son, his only child, was inside that building, suffocating and he was relegated to civilian status after over twenty years on the force. He closed his eyes to gather his emotions. Then he stared at house trying to find some clue. There was a basement, which meant there might be a backdoor to the basement on the outside of the house. Henry smiled, "Let's go, Gus."
"What? Where? I'm not leaving until they find Shawn," Gus sputtered.
Henry softly explained, "There's a basement. There's probably a back way into it. Let's go and find out." Henry started walking to the back of the house.
Gus shook his head and smirked. "Like father, like son," he thought and quickly followed.
Henry and Gus were about half way around the side of the house when Buzz said, "You can't go back there." Henry turned and glared at Buzz. He was about to walk toward the young man and tell him off, when Buzz added, "Without some help." The young officer smiled and then walked by Henry into the backyard. Henry was shocked and glanced at Gus, who shrugged. Both men quickly ran after him.
In the backyard, there was a set of doors that were an exterior entrance to the basement. Buzz was standing over the doors and unlocking the clasps. He threw open the doors and Henry rushed past him down the steps into the basement. The dark, damp environment had an eerie feel and Henry shivered. Behind him, Buzz and Gus came down the steps and stopped behind him. Buzz turned on his flashlight. The basement was bigger than it appeared. There was a doorway straight ahead. Henry walked over to it and found it locked. He was about to try to use his shoulder to knock it in when Buzz put his hand on Henry's shoulder. "Let me, Mr. Spencer." Henry nodded and moved aside. The door came crashing down in two strikes of Buzz's foot. Henry, Gus, and Buzz entered the new room. Outside the sounds of sirens signaled the approach of more help. Gus found a light switch and flipped it up, flooding the room with fluorescence light.
The sight that greeted the trio stopped them in their tracks. A large wooden box about eight feet wide and five feet tall sat in the middle of the room. It was attached to some sort of fan or vacuum. There was a camera on one end with a light that was switched off. Gus ran over to the computer he saw on a table in the corner. He touched the mouse which brought the screen to life. He nearly fell over when he saw Shawn. "He's in there. Holy crap, he's in there. You have to get him out," Gus yelled.
Henry and Buzz stopped their individual examination of the wooden fortress. The box was put together meticulously. The joints were sealed tightly with some sort of epoxy, sealing the air in. The only way to get in was to cut the wood. Henry thought he had seen an axe in the first room that they were in. He grabbed Buzz's flashlight out of his hand and ran back into the first room. He yanked the axe off the wall and came back to the wood box. "Whoa, wait. What if you hit Shawn?" Buzz asked.
"It looks like there's another box inside this one. Just don't swing too hard," Gus said.
"I won't," Henry said and he swung his arm back. Just then the door at the top of the steps opened. Carlton Lassiter stood looking down at the trio.
"Stop! Didn't I tell you two to wait outside?" he bellowed. Henry ignored him and made contact with the wood. "Spencer, stop," Lassiter said holstering his gun and coming down the stairs. He grabbed Henry's shoulder and pushed him to the side.
Henry gave Lassiter what Shawn had deemed the 'death glare'. "Lassiter, my son is in this deathtrap. So unless you what me to chop your damn head off, get the hell out of my way," he said furiously and pushed the detective out of the way.
"Henry, give me the axe. I'll do it," Lassiter said, pulling off his coat. Henry reluctantly handed him the tool and Lassiter began the work of hitting the wood. As he worked, more policemen and women came downstairs. Then a few firefighters came down and joined in the chopping. The wood fell away and the clear Plexiglas box was visible. Everyone stopped and stared for a minute. Henry rushed over and tried to find a way to open it. The lid was fastened by numerous screws lining the edges of the box. It was hard to see Shawn, because of the material fogging up due his breathing. He knocked on the box hoping for some kind of response. "Get a drill down here now!" one of fire rescuers called.
"What about a saw? It would be faster," Lassiter said.
"I don't want to saw the poor guy's arm or leg off," the man answered. Gus paled at that comment.
Henry kept knocking at the glass, trying to get Shawn's attention. He thought he saw his son blink, but it was hard to tell. Two drills appeared and the rescue workers moved quickly to work on removing the lid. Henry hovered close by. The lid was off in a matter of minutes. The anxious father quickly moved to be near his son's head. He saw that Shawn was breathing, although shallowly and smiled in relief. But then he noticed that the younger man hadn't reacted at all to what was happening around him, his worry increased tenfold.
"Shawn? Shawn, its Dad. Shawn?" Henry said gently shaking Shawn's shoulders, each word getting more frantic. Shawn's dazed hazel eyes were open, but unfocused and he hadn't acknowledged anyone was even there. The most frightening thing was that he hadn't said a word. Gus stood to the side and watched with concern as Henry tried to get Shawn's attention.
"Sir, please. We need to get him out of there," one of the paramedics, who had just arrived, said. Henry nodded and he grabbed underneath Shawn's arms and helped the medics pull him out of his prison. Gus moved to the side and helped support Shawn's torso. Henry looked down at his son as they were moving him. Now Shawn's eyes were finally focused on him, tears slowly streaming out of the corners. He felt the younger man starting to tremble as he was placed on the stretcher. Henry was about to say something reassuring to Shawn, when the paramedics pushed him out of the way.
"No, wait. Let me talk to him," Henry said as he tried to maneuver his way around to Shawn's side. By the time Henry could look at him again, Shawn had his eyes squeezed closed and he was anxiously whispering, "Dad. Dad." The paramedics ignored the young man's father and one tried to get an I.V. in his patient's arm. He must have missed the vein, because Shawn hoarsely howled in pain. It was the most noise that anyone had heard him make.
"STOP," Henry bellowed and all the activity around came to a stop. Shawn had started panting and Henry pushed aside the inept medic. He grasped his son's hand.
"Shawn, open your eyes. Look at me, bud. Come on," he calmly told his son. He placed his hand on Shawn's cheek. The lax hand he was holding suddenly gripped his fiercely and the eyes flew open. His son looked directly at him. The wet hair clinging to Shawn's forehead made him appear much younger than his twenty-nine years.
"Dad? You came," Shawn slurred, between pants. The exhaustion was evident on his face and his voice sounded like he swallowed sandpaper. "Don't go. Don't leave me alone. Please," he said desperately.
"Hey, I'm not going to leave you. I promise. These people are trying to help you," Henry said gently patting his son's warm cheek and then angrily glaring at the medics. "Hey, Gus is here too." Henry looked over at his son's best friend.
"Hey, bud. Good to see you man," Gus said. Shawn turned his head toward Gus. A small smile appeared on Shawn's face, but never quite made it to his eyes. Gus seeing something moving at Shawn's side looked down and saw the fist being weakly held up. Gus bumped it with his fist and smiled back at his friend. Shawn nodded, closed his eyes and let his hand fall onto the gurney. Then the paramedics moved back in and began to work around him again. He kept his fierce grip on Henry's hand and Henry did not leave his son's side. When the medics were ready, one of them said, "Let's roll, people." And Shawn was headed off to the hospital.