[Reed's POV]
I feel my body instantly tense up and my heart now feels like it might actually beat right through my chest as it pounds harder and faster as I listen to the footsteps coming down the stairs.
My breathing is shallow and rapid and I press myself as hard as I can against the wall as I see the dark figure move closer towards me. Is this it for me?
As he gets closer and steps into the dim lighting that's provided by a small hanging light fixture above me, I realize that it's neither L.J. or one of the two men he called his 'associates'. Before he can open his mouth to speak, I hear another set of footsteps hurrying down the stairs.
"Mason, hold up!" I hear the other man yell and I cringe at the sound of his voice. Now that's L.J...
"Relax, I'm just gonna say hello" The man standing over me; Mason I'm assuming, calls back.
He crouches down in front of me and L.J. just stops and hangs back for a moment. My panic quickly sets in further as I notice the gun in his right hand.
"Please..." I lightly whimper as I hang my head and stare at the floor, unable to look him in the eye.
He raises the gun and uses the barrel end of it to lift my chin up so I'm forced to look at him. Shivers instantly make their way down my spine as the cold metal presses against my skin, and I can't stop my body from shaking with fear.
"My God L.J., how old is this kid, like 14?" he scoffs.
"How old are you kid?" He asks me, but I don't respond. Instead my mind and body leave me no option but to cower in fear.
"Okay, doing this the hard way huh?" he snaps at me as he grabs me by the shirt and pulls me up slightly, but not all the way to my feet.
He reaches into my back pocket and grabs my wallet before letting his grip of me go, and I fall back to the hard floor. He flips open the wallet and grabs my I.D.
"Hmmmm, Reed Garrett. 17 huh? I remember being 17, it's some good times huh? Well, maybe not for you I suppose..." he begins with a smirk as he tosses my I.D. on the floor and continues to go through my wallet.
"Heyyyyy..." he starts again, this time in a tone that tells me that I don't want to know where this is going.
"Who's the broad? She's smokin'!" he tells me with a grin as pulls out the picture of Claire that Mac had given me and runs his finger across it.
"Hey, I tell you what, you hook me up with her and I'll let you go here and now. I could think of a lot more fun things to do with her cuffed to my wall..."
My fear instantly turns to rage as he belittles my memory of my mother.
"Put it back!" I snap at him as I lunge towards him and try to grab for the picture. Unfortunately he's far enough back that he's just out of my reach and the tight grip of the handcuff starts to dig into my skin and I'm forced back against the wall.
"Woah, sore spot!" he throws back at me in a mocking tone. "This your girlfriend or something? Look's a little old for you, but all the power to ya man"
"That's my mother, now put it back!" I demand in a furious tone and he turns his head back to L.J.
"You said..." he begins but L.J. quickly cuts him off.
"She's dead. I wasn't lying to you."
"Well that's unfortunate" he replies sarcastically as he turns his attention back to me. "I think I might just go ahead and hang on to this though" he tells me with a grin and stuffs the picture into his shirt pocket.
"No, please, it's all I have of her. Just put it back, please" I lightly beg.
"I don't know what you're so worried about, you're not gonna need it anytime soon anyway" he remarks with an evil grin that I wish I could just slap right off his face.
"Let's see, what else we got..." he continues as he flips through my wallet. "8 bucks... well, it's somthin." He grabs the few dollars I had left over from what Mac had given me and shoves them into his pocket with the picture already in it.
As he picks through the few other remaining cards I have in my wallet he reads them quickly then tosses them to the floor. He pulls out the last one, then arches his eyebrow and brings his gaze back up to me.
"Are you a C.I.?" he asks as, and I offer a confused look, as I have no idea what he's talking about.
"A C.I., confidential informant" he continues. "A snitch! Is that what you are?" he asks, now screaming in my face causing me to flinch.
"No, what are you talking about?" I manage to ask when he stops screaming.
"Maybe my friend here was right about you. Maybe you're going to get exactly what you deserve!" He snaps at me as he flips the card over so that I can read it. I swallow hard when I look at it and notice that it's Mac's card that he had given me when we first met.
"Who's Mac Taylor? Huh?! And what kind of name is Mac anyway?" he scoffs.
"What kind of name is Mason?" I throw back at him in anger. Big mistake Reed...
He quickly backhands me across the face then stands to his feet.
"You should learn to know your place boy!" he growls at me.
"Yeah well you should learn to mind your own business" I quickly snap back, hoping the adrenaline of my anger will keep me from succumbing to my state of quivering fear once again.
"L.J., I gotta give you props man, I don't know how you managed to put up with this little punk for this long" he begins as he raises his right arm and pulls back the hammer on the gun, ready to fire.
My eyes instantly begin to water as my state of fear returns and I yell out the first thought that comes into my terrified brain.
"If you pull that trigger, Mac will kill you!" I scream at him through the few tears that have started to fall down my cheeks.
"Finally, we're getting some answers" he starts again, this time in a calmer voice as he re-arms the safety on the gun.
"Now, I'll ask you again. And this time, no wise cracks, cuz next time I won't be bluffing. Who is Mac Taylor?"
"He's my dad!" I tell him without giving it a second thought.
"He's a detective and a former marine, and when he finds you he's gonna kill you!" I snap at him with my voice raised.
He looks at me in confustion, but offers nothing in response; instead he just turns in the opposite direction.
"L.J., a word please..." he demands in a calm voice as he walks towards L.J. and pushes him towards the stairs.
"Mason..." L.J. tries to protest but Mason offers him another hard shove towards the stairs and I feel my heart rate start to slow again as I hear their footsteps heading back up the stairs.
What did I just do? The whole point of me coming into this alone was so that Mac wouldn't get involved, wouldn't get hurt. I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I could be. I need Mac. I'm not ready to die...
"Please Mac, please find me..." I whisper into the stillness of the room.
...
[Mac's POV]
As Flack and I return to the lab we quickly go searching for Stella, Danny and Adam in hopes that they can tell us something useful.
We finally spot them and head into the room but when I see the obvious look of defeat and frustration that I know all too well on each of their faces, I know I'm in for some bad news.
"Anything?" I ask hopelessly as I approach my team.
"Well," Danny begins. "We were able to narrow the tread pattern down to a specific tire, but unfortunately it's a pretty standard issue. There's a dozen different vehicles this tire could belong to. Sorry Mac..."
"I was afraid of that..." I reply with a frown.
"What about you guys? Come up with anything?" Stella inquires and I quickly fill her and the others in on what just happened.
"There has to be something else..." I start thinking out loud.
"Well," Stella begins. "This all ties back to the drug bust from a few days ago right, so let's go back to the beginning."
"Bobby!" I exclaim as the light bulb in my brain flicks on. Why didn't I think of this earlier?
"Flack, let's go" I tell him and he quickly follows after me as we head out of the lab room and into the hallway, back towards the elevator.
"Bobby, the guy Reed was staying with" I begin to explain to Flack as we step onto the elevator. "As far as I know, he's still downstairs in lock-up. Maybe he can tell us something useful about this Hammond guy."
The elevator comes to a halt and we both step out. I make my way towards the clerk with hurried steps and Flack follows.
Flack offers a quick flash of his badge to the clerk and tells him who we're here to see. Within moments we're led down the hallway to the cell that confines our only lead left that could help me find Reed.
"Rolston!" The clerk shouts and Bobby stands to his feet. I can only assume he recognizes me from before because when he notices me, his face instantly turns pale.
"Oh God, is it Reed? Did something happen to him?" He asks with true remorse in his tone as he steps closer to us. How does he know something is wrong?
"We're trying to figure that out, now we need your help" Flack states calmly and Bobby nods in agreement.
"What do you know about Lawrence James Hammond?" I ask him, and he hangs his head slightly.
"You mean L.J.? ... Damn it. I warned Reed..." he begins with a shake of his head and I quickly cut him off.
"What do you mean you warned Reed?"
"The first night we were in here, L.J. made some threats, and I told Reed the next day when he stopped by to see me"
"The next day? Reed was here?" I begin questioning, then realize he must have snuck down here when I had to meet with Sinclair. "Never mind, that's not important now. What kind of threats?" I inquire further.
"He blamed Reed for the bust when he found out that you... Well, when he found out about you. I tried to tell him that Reed wouldn't do that but he wouldn't listen to me. He said Reed better watch his back. And unfortunately L.J. always makes good on his threats."
"And you told Reed all of this?" Flack chimes in.
"Yeah, yeah. I told him to be careful. Wait a minute, you mean he didn't tell you any of this?" He asks, focussing his question towards me.
"No, he didn't tell me" I snap back at him. Why the hell didn't he tell me? Good question...
"Okay," Flack takes command again. "What else can you tell us about this guy? If he can't go home, where would he go? Does he have any friends, partners? Anything you can tell us would help."
"Nah, he pretty much works alone. Kind of keeps to himself you know? Not exactly the type of guy that anyone would want to be friends with. He used to have a partner, but that was a while back."
"What do you know about this partner?" I ask him with hopes that he'll be able to tell me something... anything.
"Oh, I don't know, I only met him a couple times. Him and L.J. were real tight though, they'd known each other since they were kids I guess."
"You got a name?" Flack questions further.
"Um... hmm..." he begins pondering. "It was kind of a different name... like Marlow, or Marshall or something with an 'M'..." he starts and I pull the pages of L.J.'s record that Adam had printed for me out of my back pocket and start flipping through them until I find the "Known Associates" section.
"Mason Campbell?" I ask as I read the first name on the list.
"Mason! That's it!" he exclaims with a snap of his fingers.
"Anything else we should know that you can tell us?" I quickly ask before we take our leave.
"Nah, sorry" he replies with a shrug.
"Well thanks for all your help" Flack tells him with a nod we turn back down the hallway.
I quickly reach for my phone as we head back to the elevator and dial Adam.
"Adam Ross."
"Adam, I need you to start running a search on a Mason Campbell, I need an address, and whatever else you can find on him. Flack and I are on our way back upstairs."
"You got it boss" he quickly complies and I hang up the phone.
"Think we'll get lucky?" Flack asks as we step back onto the elevator.
"Hope so..." I mumble back with a heavy sigh.
I'm so completely consumed with worry and fear that my brain actually hurts. What if we're too late? Should I have foreseen this? Why the hell didn't Reed tell me about the threats? I'm supposed to protect him, and now he's... oh I don't even want to think about it. Stay positive Mac! I warn myself.
"Mac!" Flacks voice calls to me, and I am relieved from listening to my dark inner monologue any longer. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't even notice the elevator doors open, so now Flack stands in the hallway waiting for me to join him.
"Sorry..." I mutter as I step off the elevator.
We head down the hall until we spot Adam, and head inside to see what he's come up with.
"Well?" I ask eagerly as we approach him.
"Meet Mason Campbell" he begins, turning the computer screen to face us.
"34 years old. The usual rap sheet; possession, trafficking, armed robbery, and most recently assault with a deadly weapon that landed him 5 years up state. Released 2 years ago on parole, been clean ever since."
My phone begins ringing in my pocket as Adam finishes telling me about Campbell. I pull my phone out, but when I read the caller I.D. I just roll my eyes and return my phone to my pocket.
"Sinclair..." I grumble. Who knows what he wants from me now, but whatever it is it's not important enough to warrant my attention right now.
"Ok Adam," I begin again. "You got an address on this guy?"
"Absolutely. Fortunately for us he still checks in with his parole officer." He tells me as he begins printing the information.
I go to reach for the paper when my phone rings again. I quickly hit the ignore button again as I read Sinclair's name on the caller I.D. once more.
I start glancing over the information on Mason Campbell when suddenly Flack's phone begins to ring.
"Well, he's relentless today" Flack scoffs as he too pulls out his phone and looks at the display.
"Don't answer it" I lightly demand. "We'll catch up with him later. Let's find Stella and Danny and we'll kick over some rocks at this Campbell guy's place, see what's underneath. Threaten a call to his parole officer and I'm sure he'll tell us whatever he can."
"Alright" Flack agrees and we leave Adam and head back into the hallway. As we get further down the hall I can hear a heated argument coming from Stella's office and we stop just outside her door, but remaining out of sight.
[Stella's POV]
"Listen Stella, stop leading me around in circles and just tell me what's going on!" Chief Sinclair demands with his voice still raised higher than I'd like it to be.
"Where's Taylor?!" He asks as his hands slam down on my desk.
"I don't know Chief, working on a case..."
"And what case might that be?"
"Look, why don't you ask him that?"
"I would if he would bother to pick up his damn phone!" He snaps back at me, and I can see his anger climbing, but I figure its Mac's place to tell Sinclair, not mine. If I have to endure a verbal beat-down or even a suspension in order to buy Mac some more time, then so be it.
"Are you sure you're dialling the right number? Have you tried e-mailing him? Or texting him? Oooh, you could leave him one of those yellow sticky notes in his office." I tell him sarcastically, and he's less than amused.
"Bonasera!" He finally snaps and I know I'm in for it now...
"You lookin' for me Chief?" Mac's voice calls out as he casually steps into my office and Flack follows him.
[Mac's POV]
I couldn't let Stella take the fall for me, so I knew I had to intervene.
"What's the matter, you don't answer your phone anymore?" Sinclair asks me angrily.
"Yeah, sorry about that, I was with Adam getting information on a case"
"And which case would that be? Would it be another one of Weiss' cases?" He asks angrily, and Flack and I both quickly look at each other.
"Yeah, I heard you were down there, now you want to tell me what exactly is going on?"
"Can you guys give us a minute?" I ask calmly as I look over to Flack and Stella. They both nod in agreement and quietly step out of the office and into the hallway.
"Well," Sinclair begins in an annoyed tone. "I'm waiting. And this better be good."
I let out a soft sigh, then decide to just dive right in, I don't think I have much of a choice at this point.
"You remember how I told you about my stepson?" I begin softly as I fill Sinclair in on the few details we have about his disappearance. He hears me out, and doesn't offer any interruptions, which I'm thankful for. Finally I finish telling him all the information we've collected so far and wait for him to respond.
"Okay..." he finally says with a heavy sigh. "Carry on with your investigation, but I want details every step of the way, and don't think you're getting out of this without a detailed case report when it's all over, understand?" He asks and I simply nod.
"And don't try and go all 'Captain Commando' on us; if you need back-up you call for back-up! You're team stays with you every step of the way. I mean it Taylor, if you go to take a piss, I want them waiting for you outside the door! You got me?" He snaps.
"I got, I got it" I quickly agree as I head for the door.
"And Taylor!" he calls me and I turn back to him.
"Be careful."
"I will Chief" I tell him as I finally head back out into the hall to meet with Stella and Flack who are now joined by Danny.
"Let's go" I mutter and they all quickly follow after me. There's no need to explain to them what happened with Sinclair, I'm sure they heard every word of it.
...
[L.J.'s POV]
As we get upstairs Mason quickly slams the basement door shut, then grabs me by the arm and pulls me back towards him, turning me around to face him.
"Look, before you jump to conclusions..." I begin, but before I can say another word he forces me up against the wall and holds me there with both his fists clenched onto my shirt.
"You've got 30 seconds to explain" he quickly warns me with a growl. "And don't play me!"
"Okay, okay!" I agree. "Taylor, he's the kid's stepfather, but they just met, and that's the truth. Trust me, it's not what you think. He wouldn't even notice if the kid was missing. They're not that close" I tell him, and at least it's not a total lie.
"You lied to me L.J. You said he doesn't have anybody, now there's a cop in the picture? I told you I didn't have a good feeling about this" He tells me and his grip on me finally loosens and I'm released from the wall.
"I'm sorry man," he continues in a softer tone. "You know you're like a brother to me, but I can't let you stay here. You gotta get that kid out of here."
"Alright, alright. Just let us chill here until nightfall, then we'll be out of here."
"No, I mean it, go get the kid, and get out. Now!" He starts with anger in his voice again as he starts pushing me back towards the basement door.
"Alright, already!" I finally snap. "Just get your hands off me!" I huff as I offer him a shove back.
I go to reach for the basement door when suddenly we are both startled by a loud pounding knock on the front door.
"This is the NYPD!" A voice calls on the other end of the door and Mason and I look at each other in horror.
"We'd just like to talk to you Mr. Campbell. Open the door please." the voice continues and the pounding on the door gets louder.
I look over to Mason again and he raises his gun towards the front door.
"I won't go back to prison..." he tells me with a look in his eye that scares even me. A look that I've never seen before in the 20 some-odd years that I've known him.
This does not bode well for you Taylor... I tell myself inside as I nervously watch Mason pull back the hammer on the gun then ready his finger on the trigger.
**Thanks to all the faithful viewers for the remaining interest in this story =)
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