Guess what? FINAL CHAPTER! It's all here and I'm probably more exicted than all of you guys.
Disclaimer: Here's some facts: 1. Horatio Caine rocks. 2. Mac Taylor is the most macho guy on T.V. 3. I DON'T OWN CSI MIAMI!!!
"Lauren? What's up? I've been trying to ring you for ages!"
Emma's voice sounded concerned. Hearing someone answer the phone by saying "Please help me" would most probably worry anyone.
"Emma? Is that you?"
"Yeah I got a new phone, remember? Sorry I didn't give you the number yet. Why are you whispering?"
Lauren knew she would only have a limited time to explain. Her best friend wasn't an amazing listener at the best of times because she much preferred to talk. She considered her choice of words carefully.
"Emz, listen. Call Horatio. Tell him I'm with a guy called Mark West in his apartment. I don't know where."
"What the hell are you on girl? Are you playing some kind of trick on me?"
"I'm serious. Emma please bring it upon yourself to do me a favour and call Horatio right away. You have his number, right?"
"I think Jackie does…"
"Good."
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?"
Lauren paused. She didn't want to explain in too many words what was happening because she knew her friend would worry like hell. Emma would probably be more traumatized than Lauren because she was such an innocent soul. Lauren hadn't yet told anyone other than Horatio about her stalker.
"I'll tell you later, I promise. I gotta go. Remember, Mark West's apartment."
"Who's Mark?"
"Goodbye Emma."
Lauren hurriedly ended the call and switched her phone to silent. She knew all about GPS from Horatio and she wished hard that they would be able to find her if she could keep her phone on long enough. Can I wait that long? Do I have that much time left? She could already hear the sounds of Mark returning with his 'present'. Pangs of fear returned as she grudgingly lay back down on the floor ready once more to face the horrifying music.
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Eric's stomach did a backflip followed by a somersault when the screen changed.
GPS located.
His knowledge as a CSI told him that her being cell had been turned on meant someone if not Lauren had cared enough to help Delko with the first clue to finding her.
He double clicked on the box and the image on the screen zoomed in gradually over a map of Miami, settling on a block of apartments in Coral Terrace. At least Horatio and Tripp are in the right area. A small red triangle was flashing over a specific building and next to it popped up a box with the address and tenants of the building. Eric's eyes blurred as he read the names of each one.
"There! Mark West!"
He copied down the guy's apartment number and street in his notebook and speed-dialled Horatio with his cell. It was busy.
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"Mark West?"
"Yeah, she was being really cryptic about it. Whispering an' all. I thought she was home with you 'cause I was there when she was dropped off."
"She never made it inside the door."
"What?!"
He regretted it the moment he had said it. Now wasn't the best time to explain to a teenage girl that her best friend had been kidnapped, especially because Horatio had been pointing a gun at the head of the occupant of the house when his cell began to ring. Tripp was currently searching the man's house for information linking him to the kidnapping.
"Emma, tell me what she said in her exact words."
"I can't remember it exactly…"
"Do your best."
"Well, she said something about being at Mark West's apartment, but she doesn't know where it is. Why wouldn't she know where it was? Her sense of direction is better than mine…"
Horatio was beginning to get slightly impatient. He waved at Frank to get his attention and motioned to him to come nearer. Holding a finger over the speaker, he lowered his voice and muttered,
"Lauren made contact with Emma. She said she was at Mark West's apartment."
"Well that doesn't help us. We already know the guy's name. What we need to know is where this apartment is."
Horatio nodded and listened again to Emma's prattling.
"… because she's always like that. Always. And then she told me to phone you. So I did. That's what I'm doing now. Uh… Horatio?"
"Yes?"
"Good. You're still listening. I gotta ask, is Lauren in trouble? Is she gonna get hurt?"
He turned to look out of the window at the golden sunset through the trees.
"Not if I can help it."
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Eric gave up trying to get through to Horatio and rang Tripp instead. It rang six times before the Homicide Detective answered.
"What's the news, Delko?"
"I got a GPS signal. Lauren's phone's been located in Mark West's apartment in the Terrace."
Frank cross-referenced the address with the ones on the list in his hand. The one Lauren was being held at was only half a mile from here. He thanked Delko for the information and tapped Horatio on the shoulder.
"We have a location. Let's roll."
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Mark snuck back into the room, his head hanging in defeat. He had forgotten that he had used up the last of the heroin and now he had nothing to give her. He leaned against the wall and breathed in deeply. What else can I give her? Wait a minute… a few hours ago he had intended to kill her. What had changed his mind since then? He chuckled when an answer came to him… the heroin. If anything would change his mind, that would. But that hadn't been the answer he had been seeking.
What was stopping him from killing her now? She was lying on the floor, practically waiting for him to start. So compliant. He didn't have to kill her right away. There was always time for some fun first.
He bent over her body and pulled her hair back from her face. Her eyes were staring dead ahead, unfocused and hazy. Weird. He took hold of her chin and moved her face so she could look at him but she only looked straight through him, her lips trembling and her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath. She was certainly alive but she seemed as though she was not entirely there. Not that it mattered to him. He unfastened the first few buttons of her blouse and ran his fingers over the lace in her bra. Still, he got no reaction. Maybe it was better this way.
No words were exchanged between them as Mark removed more items of Lauren's clothing. Her shoes, her socks and the whole of her blouse were done away with and thrown to a corner of the room. At first, he would only touch her skin and feel its smoothness under his fingers but he soon progressed to much more intimate actions. For the second time that day, he went to kiss her and the degree of reaction changed dramatically from his first attempt. Their lips had met for a just few seconds when Lauren twisted her head away from the embrace and blinked tears from her eyes.
I'm not strong enough to keep this up. Where is Horatio? She winced as he unzipped her pants and pulled them down past her knees, past her ankles and pulled them off completely. Mark lifted his leg over her body and sat down on top of her hips, his weight crushing her from above. Risking a glance at his face, Lauren could see the hunger and madness in his eyes and he unfastened his belt and withdrew it from the loops. He wrapped it slowly around his left fist and held the other end in his right hand.
He's going to rape me. Horatio? Why aren't you here? I don't want to lose my virginity this way.
The door to the room crashed open making Mark temporarily look up from his victim. Seizing her opportunity, Lauren sat up and punched him in the gut rendering him breathless but it wasn't enough to force him off of her. Mark reacted faster than a snake and looped his belt around Lauren's neck, pulling it tight and crushing her windpipe.
"Don't come near me or I'll strangle her!" he shouted.
Through her clouding vision, Lauren could see the barrel of a gun held firmly in front of a pair of sunglasses.
"Let go of the belt Mark. It's over."
"I'll kill her! I swear!"
Horatio coolly aimed his gun at the man's torso and weighed his options. Lauren was losing consciousness fast and if Mark didn't loosen his grip she would be dead before Horatio could wrestle the belt from him. He decided to issue one last ultimatum.
"Last chance Mark."
Still, he wouldn't let go. As Lauren fainted from lack of oxygen, Horatio fired two shots in quick succession at her captor. The bullets hit him just above the heart and blood sprayed from his wounds across the room and floor. Securing his gun, Horatio kicked Mark's limp body which fell backwards and pulled Lauren with him, his hand still clamped around his end of the belt in a death grip. Horatio was forced to unwrap it layer by layer from her neck to free her and give her the chance to breathe again.
The reality of the situation hit him and he wept as he picked up his niece and cradled her in his arms. He had nearly lost his only remaining family member and nothing was going to separate them now. He stroked and kissed her hair as Tripp stood behind him and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Is she okay?"
Lauren blinked and opened her eyes to see her uncle's face still covered by his sunglasses. Typical. She delicately slid them down his nose and held them close to her chest to prove to herself he really was there. It was hard to speak, but she made the effort to let him know she was okay.
"Thank you H."
SQUEEEE!!!!!! I love Horatio Caine! Is that obvious?
Go ahead and either review this chapter or the story as a whole, tell me what you think cos I really wanna know... "Who are you? Who? Who?" Sorry, lapsed into CSI:LV theme tune there.
Please review!
XXLollyXX