Don't feel bad for not realizing Victor was the monster. I had a monster in my life too. They're hard to see sometimes.


Four Days Earlier

Bobby stared at the file in front of him and knew something was wrong. His note from the day before was gone. Curious, he checked his file on the computer, and it was gone from there too. He tapped his fingers on the desk, wondering where it could have gone and who took it. He looked around. Was he being watched right now? He decided to head down to the restaurant to talk to Scotty. It was the kid who eventually told him about Victor. Bobby had refused to believe it at first, but then Scotty showed him pictures, pictures that were also now missing from his file and from his computer file. Someone had hacked his desk, and he needed answers. When he arrived at the restaurant, he noticed that a different waiter started to serve him.

"Where's Scotty?" Bobby asked.

"He called in sick today," the waiter answered.

"Oh," Bobby said. He didn't add anything else. His mind was racing. Scotty never had any time off. That was one of the big things about being a victim of trafficking. You never had a voice and you never had free time. He got up without ordering anything and went out the door as fast as he could. He almost knocked over someone on his way out.

"Sorry, mate," he said, recovering. Victor looked back at him. Bobby stiffened.

"It's all right," Victor said, brushing off his shirt.

"How are you?" Bobby asked.

"Just fine, thanks. Grabbing a coffee before going to work."

"Great coffee here," Bobby said. He wondered if Victor knew that he knew. They held each others' gaze for a moment before Bobby excused himself. He felt the warning there. He knew his time was running out. He just needed to complete the puzzle before tearing it all apart. He noticed a bunch of missed calls from Howie about half an hour ago. He'd have to call him back later. He thought hard as he drove. He needed to be in Garrett's office in an hour to present his case and arrest Victor, but with no proof, it was going to be impossible to get a warrant for arrest. He decided to visit Scotty at his home. Maybe the kid had more copies of those photos. He really hoped so. The abandoned apartment complex looked extra dreary when he pulled up. When he got out, it started to rain. He knocked hard on the door, and Scotty answered.

"Whoa," Bobby said. "What happened to your face?"

"Look, man, you're in trouble," Scotty stammered. He looked as though he had been crying. "Victor knows you know. He threatened to kill Timmy if I didn't do it."

"Do what?"

"Steal your file information. He hooked me up with an I.D., and I took the stuff I gave you about him out of the file as requested. He also got me a password to your computer. He...he killed Howie."

"He what?!" Bobby shouted, panicking.

"He made me lure him to our meeting place. He made me watch," Scotty sobbed. "As a lesson to learn for what happens when you cross him. Howie scratched my face...I don't know why..."

"To give us the clue to come to you," Bobby reasoned.

"Why not Victor then?"

"He was holding the gun," Bobby explained. At least, that's how it made sense to him anyway. He couldn't ask Howie. He regretted not answering his phone now.

"Man, he's gonna kill you. He's out looking for you right now," Scotty said anxiously. Bobby froze. He had just seen Victor. Then that meant...

"Hello, mate," a voice with a fake accent said. Bobby felt the barrel of the gun touch his temple.

"Victor," he said, turning to see Lucy's husband standing there grinning. "What a pleasant surprise. You really need to work on that accent, though."

"Always one with the jokes," Victor said. His accomplice trained another gun on Bobby while Victor turned to look at Scotty, who was trembling visibly now. "I see you stuck your nose where it doesn't belong."

"If you mean getting involved in stopping you from trafficking innocent kids like Scotty, then yes, I did," Bobby replied. It had taken him almost two years to get information out of Scotty about what happened to him. The kid had been really scared. Bobby felt terrible that he hadn't gotten him and the others out sooner. Victor scoffed.

"It's a business, Bobby. It pays well. How else do you think I keep my wife and child happy, huh? With money from fire fighting? My God you're all so blind," Victor sneered.

"So what are you gonna do now, huh? Kill me? My team will figure it out."

"I have something a little more special for you," Victor said. He turned to Scotty, aiming his gun.

"No," Scotty whimpered.

"I don't keep rats alive," Victor whispered. Bobby shut his eyes just before the gun went off. Scotty's scream would forever stay in his memory, though. He reopened his eyes to see Victor wiping the gun just before he shoved it into Bobby's hand. Bobby tried to react, but the accomplice sharply reminded him that he was still there.

"You're going down for this one," Victor said, tossing the gun down beside Scotty. "Come on, then. One more stop to make." He and his accomplice herded Bobby to his SUV.

"Deal with the car," Victor said to a second accomplice, who nodded. Bobby had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

...

Sue needed sleep. And a shower. She needed to wake up, but there was no escaping this nightmare. Lindsay was waiting for a heart transplant, and by the sounds of it, she wasn't going to be getting one. Dr. Chang tried to be positive and hopeful, but Sue could read his body language and knew that he was riding on the coattails of hope. Her daughter was not going to make it through this. Levi rested his head on her knees as she broke out into sobs. Jack had no idea. He still was in the mindset that everything was going to be all right. Sue knew better. She looked at Levi. She knew he wasn't well either, and it broke her heart. The vet had been very clear that her best friend was only getting sicker, and yet, he still tried to be her comfort and support. After a while, she got up to get some water. Levi never got to her in time before she was attacked from behind and had something shoved in her face. That was the last thing she remembered.

...

"What the hell, man," Bobby said, sitting at Jack and Sue's kitchen table. Victor still had a gun trained to his head.

"Write it," he instructed. "Word for word."

"You're sick, you know that?"

"Hey, it's only fair after the mind control she's been doing with Lucy," Victor snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Bobby demanded.

"She told Lucy to leave me! Yea, you think I wouldn't find that out? I know everything. Only thing is, Lucy didn't leave, so I win. But, Sue will not get away with trying to manipulate my wife. She's gotta go in order for my marriage to survive."

"You're absolutely crazy," Bobby said, staring at him. "Off your bloody rocker."

"Write it!" Victor shouted, his hand shaking. Bobby did so as instructed. He hoped Stewart would be able to decipher that this was forced. The guy was a genius after all. Once he was done, Bobby turned to Victor.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Get up," Victor ordered. "Back to the driveway. Now."

Bobby was thinking fast. He needed to leave another clue, something easily hidden but easily found.

"You know, you can kill me and kill Sue and hurt thousands of children and adults, but you'll always just be the lowest of the low on this Earth, and you'll never amount to anything ever. I hope Lucy leaves you and takes you for everything you have," Bobby sneered. As predicted, this earned him a punch to his mouth, but it wasn't hard enough.

"Shut up!" Victor shrieked.

"You're a lowlife, pond sucking scumbag who has to use violence and control as a way of getting what you want. What kind of man are you?"

Another punch.

"Dirty dog. I hope you get put down," Bobby growled. Victor punched him one more time, and it was enough. Bobby turned from the force and spat out the wad of blood into the bushes for Myles to find. Somehow he just knew it would be Myles.

"Get into the f***ing truck NOW," Victor said through gritted teeth. In his blind rage, he hadn't seen what Bobby had done. Bobby saw the booties covering Victor's shoes. He had to admit, the guy was prepared. Bobby wasn't going down without a fight, though, but he couldn't leave any marks on the pavement. After putting up a ruckus, he was knocked out too. When he woke up hours later, it was to Sue's first scream.

Present

"Victor?" Lucy asked, horrified. She stared at the drawing in Tara's hand. "No. No way."

"It is, Lucy," Tara confirmed. "Victor's the head of the trafficking ring. He's the one behind all of this."

"I can't believe it," Lucy said, sitting down in the chair. She put her head in her hands. Victor was a monster?

"Where is he?" Tara asked urgently.

"I...I don't know. He said he was at work," Lucy replied.

"He's not there," Tara said. "They checked."

"Then...I don't know. Tara, you gotta believe me that I had no idea..."

"Lucy, I know you didn't know. We need to find him. Does he know that Bobby and Sue are in Kentucky?"

"Oh my God," Lucy said, starting to freak out.

"What?" Tara pressed.

"I texted him saying they were alive and in Kentucky," Lucy whispered. She was horrified.

"All right. That's where he's going. We'll get him," Tara promised. She whipped out her phone and called Jack back. Lucy tuned out the conversation. All she could think about was Violet. She had to go and get her daughter and get out of that house. She had to end this now. Without even thinking about Lindsay, she ran out of the hospital to get Violet.

...

"Okay, keep an eye out for Victor," Jack said. "He might be in a fire truck." He couldn't believe it. Lucy's husband was behind all this. Victor was trying to kill his wife and best friend. He wanted that man to pay for all the suffering he caused.

"I knew that guy was bad news," Myles growled.

"We can beat ourselves up all we want, it's not going to help us right now," Jack said.

"Can I punch him? At least once?" Myles asked.

"We'll see," Jack answered. "D, what's our ETA?"

"Be there in about forty minutes," D replied. He was up front with the pilot. He didn't do helicopters so well.

"What's our plan?" Myles asked.

"Hopefully we get Sue and Bobby out of the way before Victor arrives and then take him down," Jack said. "That's the plan."

"I like it."

"Jack?" Tara's voice said.

"Yea?"

"Got a call about a stolen black SUV. Description of the people who took it are of Bobby and Sue. There is a tracking device on it, so I'm sending you the coordinates."

"Thanks, Tara."

They were close. So close.

...

Lindsay started feeling rough. Her heart was laboring very hard, and she knew it wasn't going to hold out much longer.

"Linds?" Tara asked, seeing her face. She had just finished talking to Jack. "You okay?" She had stayed behind after Lucy left. Someone had to be here for the girl.

"Don't feel well," Lindsay managed to say.

"Do you...do you need the doctor?" Tara asked. She went to get up, but Lindsay grabbed her arm.

"No," she whispered. "Please just stay with me."

Tara looked at the girl's frightened face, and she wondered if the time was near. She knew Jack and Sue would never forgive themselves for not being here. Tara felt very afraid suddenly. She didn't want to be the last person Lindsay saw. She needed to see her parents.

...

Lucy packed fast before getting Violet. She threw the essentials into a bag. She didn't care about the rest. She didn't know where Victor was or if he was just going to show up there. Her heart was racing. Then, when she finished, she hurried over to get Violet.

"She was an angel," the neighbor said when Lucy got to the door. Violet hugged Lucy's legs tightly.

"Linds?" she asked. Her meaning was clear.

"She's okay," Lucy answered. Her mind raced. Was she, though? She felt bad suddenly for leaving her alone in the hospital. Then she remembered that Tara was still there.

"Where are we going?" Violet asked, seeing the bags in the car.

"We are leaving Daddy," Lucy explained. "Daddy is a bad man."

"Okay," Violet nodded. Lucy wondered just why Violet didn't put up more of a fuss. She refused to think of her girl getting harmed. Lucy was always watching, and she never left them unattended. That should have been a sign right there that she didn't trust her own husband and should have left long ago. Then she suddenly realized that she had no idea where to go, but she remembered something.

"Myles!" his voice shouted. She could hear the wind and chopper in the background.

"It's me!" she yelled.

"Lucy! Are you okay?!" he hollered.

"I'm fine! Is your offer to help me still on the table?!"

"Yes!"

"Can I stay with you?!"

"Yes! Key is under the plant to the right!" Myles shouted to her.

"I'll be there when you get home!"

"Okay! I'm glad you're safe!"

Lucy hung up, shaking a little. Myles was so quick to let her live with him. He hadn't liked Victor ever, and she couldn't help but think about the conversation she'd had with him recently about Bobby and Sue and noticing that whenever she was around, Myles was so attentive. Had he ever stopped caring about her?

"Mommy?" Violet cut into her thoughts.

"Yea, baby?"

"Are we going to be okay?"

"We're gonna be just fine," Lucy promised.

...

Sue saw the car coming at them the same time Bobby did.

"Hold on!" he shouted. Why couldn't they just catch a break?! He squealed onto a side street, but the car followed. Sue started giving him directions to help shake the guy off. Then, one of their tires blew.

"No, no, NO!" Bobby shouted as they skidded and started to spin. Sue screamed. He grabbed her hand just as the car caught the curb and flipped over. It rolled a few times before coming to a stop on the lawn. Sue was breathing very fast, but Bobby was already into action. He unclipped himself, grabbed his gun, and kicked the door open. The driver was already coming at him, and he fired off a shot that took him down. He could hear sirens.

"We gotta go," he said to Sue. Until he was cleared, he would be arrested for murder, and that couldn't happen right now. He went around to her side and helped her out.

"Are you all right?"

"Shaken, but I'm okay," she told him. "What now?"

"We run," he said, tugging on her arm. They started sprinting for safety. Bobby heard more shots fired behind them. Victor sure had a big crew. Then, he heard the helicopter. He looked up as he ran, and Sue noticed too.

"Who is that?" she shouted. It started to land, and Bobby's worst nightmare was coming true. Victor had flown down to kill them himself. It wasn't enough to have the job done for him or worse, be sold into slavery, which Bobby just realized was Victor's plan all along.

"Get behind me," he ordered, and Sue hid behind his back. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. Then-

"Bobby!" Jack shouted, hopping down from the chopper. Bobby lowered his gun.

"Jack?!" Sue cried, seeing him. "Jack!" She started to run towards him. Bobby caught sight of movement to his left. Another gunman. He aimed and fired. Then another came, and another. It was endless. He fired at them all. Jack had taken Sue's hand and started towards the helicopter.

"Get in the chopper!" Myles shouted at Bobby. He ignored him. It was personal now. Victor tried to ruin everything, and Bobby wasn't going to let him win. A silver truck squealed into view then, and Bobby knew who it was. Victor got out, and Bobby aimed his gun. Victor, however, had his aimed at someone else.

...

It was like slow motion. Jack saw Victor aim his gun, and he didn't even think. He threw himself in front of Sue, knocking them both down. He felt something hit him hard in the back and his neck as they fell, and he grunted. Things felt a little blurry and painful suddenly. He heard more shots and some yelling. He felt Sue's hand on his neck.

"Jack?" she said loudly. "JACK!" Her voice sounded like it was under water. Jack felt his breathing slow. Was this the end? He tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Jack? Jack! No! No, no!" Sue was crying. "Jack!"

"Jack!" Bobby's voice shouted. "Mate! Come on!" Jack felt hands turn him over. He heard Sue's gasp and cry. He mustered all his strength to say one last word.

"Me."

Then it all went dark.

...

Sue twisted her fingers over and over again. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Nothing was as painful as this. Bobby was sitting beside her covered in blood, and Tara was there too, holding his hand. He had refused the nurses' help. He insisted he was fine. He couldn't get the image of Victor's lifeless face out of his mind, though. Sue started to cry again. Bobby grasped her hand in his.

"It'll be all right," he told her. His eyes were wet. She only nodded in return. After what felt like days, the doctor finally came out.

"Sue," he said. "It went perfectly. She's awake, and all is well. You can come in now."

Sue stood on wobbly legs. How she made it into the room, she will never know. Lindsay looked back at her tiredly.

"Hi, baby," Sue said, taking her hand. "How are you?"

"Sore," Lindsay croaked.

"The doctors said it went well," Sue said.

"That's good," Lindsay smiled. She was still a bit out of it from the anesthesia, but she knew her mother would know she was thrilled. Then she noticed her mother was crying.

"What?" Lindsay asked. "I'm all right now."

"I know," Sue replied. She wiped at her eyes furiously.

"Where's Dad?" Lindsay asked. Sue choked. "Mom? Where's Dad?" She felt panicked suddenly.

"Something happened," Sue started. Lindsay struggled to sit up. "No, no. Stay down."

"Where's Dad?" Lindsay asked again, more forceful this time. Sue looked down and then back at her.

"He was killed in the line of duty," Sue told her. "He died saving me." She started to cry harder then. Lindsay was in shock. Her father was dead? How could this be? She had just seen him!

"No," she whimpered. "No!"

"Hey," Bobby said, coming in.

"Uncle Bobby!" Lindsay cried. "D-D-Dad's dead?"

"You told her," Bobby said to Sue, who nodded.

"She kept asking. I couldn't lie," Sue sobbed.

"What happened?" Lindsay demanded through her tears. Bobby sat on the bed and pulled her up into a hug.

"He saved your mother. He acted on instinct. I'm so sorry, love," Bobby said. Lindsay cried harder, and Bobby felt his heart breaking. How was this girl going to survive without Jack? He felt his own eyes burn. Sue eventually took his place, and he slipped out of the room. What he couldn't bear to tell her, and he knew Sue was going to have to, was that Jack had also saved Lindsay's life.

Lindsay's new heart was her father's.


Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! *Hides behind couch* If it helps, I'm bawling over here too. I am SO sorry for such an emotional chapter. It just all fell into place, and he saved his girls like he promised to do. The last chapter is the aftermath and how everyone is dealing with Jack's death. No, it's not a dream. It's real. Have lots of tissues. I know I will. Please don't hate me. Please don't hate this story.