oOo
Dan would have given himself a good hard kick had he been physically able to do so. However as matters stood, he was tied securely to a chair in Emma's kitchen, his wrists taped together behind his back and his legs taped firmly to the legs of the chair.
There was no way he could wriggle himself free, much less with an injured shoulder. The piece of tape stuck across his mouth made shouting for help another option not currently available to him. All in all, he was in deep trouble, not least because the wound to his shoulder was still bleeding slowly but steadily, leaving an ever growing stain on the floor beneath him.
Dan cast his gaze around the room for the umpteenth time, searching for something - anything that would help him get out of his mess alive. It didn't help that it was almost dark outside and Brian hadn't had the courtesy of leaving the light on. A car passed outside, its headlights briefly illuminating the room. Dan spotted a bright glint of light on the counter, but before he could see what it was exactly, the car had already driven past, casting the room in darkness once again, but it had looked a lot like a blade or knife of some kind. If he could just get across the room and reach for it, he might be able to free himself. Of course, it was a long shot, but after some trying on his part, he was able to move the chair towards the counter in tiny increments. It would take him a long time to actually reach his destination and then there would still be the problem of reaching the knife and freeing himself, but at least now he had something to work towards.
oOo
Brian's car was parked at the curb just a few meters from the front door of the apartment building, still the distance seemed impossibly vast to Emma. She felt as if she had been thrown back to when she was first beginning to walk again, unsteady and uncoordinated, unable to keep upright without support. She had come a long way in the months since, but right now, Brian was carrying the majority of her weight as he dragged her outside and towards his car, his gun still digging into her side. Even without it, Emma would have had no strength to fight off her kidnapper. He half steered half dragged her to his car and almost gently helped her into the passenger seat before he got into the driver's seat. For a few moments, while the gun wasn't trained on her, Emma thought of escape, but not only risked she getting shot at fatally close range, but she also didn't stand a fighting chance of succeeding. Her only hope now rested with Dan, hoping and praying that he would find a way to free himself and get help for both of them. The slamming car door tore Emma from her thoughts as she watched Brian turn to her inside the car..
"I'm sorry Emma, but I promise you, it's only for your safety."
Emma was about to ask him what he meant, when she felt the prick of a needle in her upper arm. Looking down, she saw that Brian had stabbed her with a syringe.
"What..." she tried to protest but whatever Brian must have given her was working awfully fast. Her tongue and entire body were rapidly growing numb and heavy. Soon, her head lolled to rest against her chest, and she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. As if in the far distance, she heard the engine start and then knew nothing more.
oOo
Dan's effort were slowly but surely bearing fruit. Although it had taken him a good twenty-five minutes according to the digital clock on the microwave oven above the fridge, he had finally managed to scuttle across the room, until the chair was with its back against the counter. Getting the knife proved to be trickier. The handle slightly hung over the edge of the counter, so he was able to topple the chair forwards and grab the knife with his hands behind his back. He cut himself too many times to count as he tried to saw through the tape, but finally after many pauses, he had succeeded in freeing his hands. He couldn't suppress the cry of pain when he moved his injured shoulder, but he wasn't deterred. Freeing his legs only took a matter of moments and finally, he was able to stand up. As he did so, he nearly fell flat on his face, as a rush of dizziness overcame him, no doubt due to blood loss. At any rate the kitchen looked like the site of a massacre. Blood had dripped and been smeared all over the floor. His clothes were bloodied as well and looking at the amount, he was sure that it was only a matter of time until blood loss became a serious problem. He was already feeling cold and faint. Since the door was locked, Dan tried the window, but it wasn't designed to be opened fully and it didn't open far enough to allow him to slid through. He had to take his chances with the door. Thankfully, it looked fairly thin and not too solid. Still, it took him several tries to kick it in. He stumbled into the hallway, completely exhausted from the combination of physical effort and bleeding. Using the wall to support himself he searched for the phone. He didn't have to look long, it stood on a small table near the door. Calling on reserves of strength he didn't know he had, he managed to dial the station.
oOo
"That doesn't look like an arson investigation to me,"
"Guv?" Mickey Webb looked up from the report he was poring over on his desk in the CID office. It was way after hours and Mickey hadn't expected to have to DCI or anyone else for that matter dropping on him, not with almost the whole station staking out what were believed to be the serial arsonist's next targets in Sun Hill.
"What are you working on?" Jack asked amicably.
"Nothing much," Mickey replied. "I was just going over the accident investigator's report of Will Fletcher's bike accident."
"There is a report already? I haven't gotten one."
"Not exactly. I know someone from accident investigations and they faxed me a preliminary report of their findings. It's not much, but it's pretty interesting," Mickey commented.
"Can I have a look?"
"Sure," Mickey handed Jack the report.
Jack scanned the single page attentively,
"I see what you mean," Jack eventually said and put the report back on Mickey's desk. "But I can't see Will making that kind of mistake. The report confirms that he hadn't been drinking, so unless he deliberately caused the collision, I don't see how this could have happened."
"Me neither. There must have been something that made him drive into the path of that truck," Mickey suggested.
"There is no mention of any witnesses, but I wonder if anyone saw what happened. Might be worth checking if there is a traffic camera at the intersection where the accident happened."
"What are you thinking of?" Mickey asked, wanting to know if there were on the same page.
"Well, we both agree that there is something not right about this. Might be some sort of mechanical failure..." Jack trailed off. Mickey was pretty sure he knew what the other man was thinking of. For the accident investigation squad it might be a clear case of human error, but they didn't know Will.
"I don't suppose Will is in any shape to tell us what happened?" Jack wondered out loud, interrupting Mickey's train of thought.
"Last I heard, he was still unconscious. They promised to give me a call as soon as he wakes up."
"I see you're well on top of this from the looks of it," Jack commented. "But aren't you supposed to be on stake-out tonight?"
Before Mickey could reply, Inspector Gold walked into the CID office. From the expression on her face, both men could tell that something was seriously wrong.
"Gina, what is it?"
"CAD just got a call from PC Casper. From what they could gather, he's just been attacked."
"Attacked? When did that happen?" Jack asked.
"We don't know yet. But we do know that he made the call to CAD from Emma Keane's flat. I've sent Roger and Lewis there now since they were closest, but I really don't have any officer's to spare on this right now."
"Then we're in the same boat, but DC Webb and I have just been discussing PC Fletcher's accident today and I have a feeling this might be connected."
"How so? It was an accident, wasn't it?"
"Officially, that will be up to accident investigations squad to determine, but you have to admit that it is certainly a rather big coincidence. At any rate, I think I should have a look at this myself."
"I'd like to come if you don't mind," Mickey said.
"Sure," Jack replied.
"I'll let Roger and Lewis know that you're coming," Inspector Gold told them. Mickey grabbed his jacket and followed Jack and the inspector out.
oOo
"Wow, I say something happened in here," Jack commented as he looked past the bashed in front door into the hallway. The carpet was covered in bloody stains and footprints. More bloody smears were on the wall and around a small table where a telephone stood. The door at the end of the hallway also looked like it has been forcibly kicked in.
He turned to Roger Valentine who had been waiting for them on the scene. "Any idea what happened here?"
"The front door was broken down by the paramedics, but as for what happened in her, I have no idea. We are still waiting for SOCO. Lewis is gone knocking on some doors to see if anyone saw or heard something."
"You searched the flat?" Mickey asked.
"We did," Roger confirmed "It was empty by the time we got here. Dan has been taken to St. Hugh's but there is no sign of Emma anywhere. We don't know what we're dealing with here."
"Mickey, I want you to go down to St. Hugh's and get an update on Dan's condition. Get the story from him, if you can and let us know immediate if something develops." Jack instructed. "I think I better call Emma's father. Maybe he's heard from her."
"I'll keep you posted then," Mickey said and ducked back out of the flat, nearly bumping into Lewis on his way.
oOo
It had taken nearly all of Mickey's persuasive powers to talk the young physician on shift into letting him speak to Dan who was at the moment recovering from surgery to remove a bullet from his shoulder. Mickey had only been allowed five minutes, so he intended to make the most of them. Their priority had to be discovering the identity of the shooter and finding out what had happened to Emma. Mickey had the distinct feeling that the Dan's shooting and Emma's disappearance were connected and that in all likelihood they were looking for only one person.
"Dan?" Mickey asked softly, hoping he'd be able to rouse Dan despite the lingering effect of the anesthetic.
Dan only groaned weakly in response.
"Dan! Can you hear me?" he spoke louder this time, hoping to get a more coherent response from Dan.
"Yeah. " Dan replied in a tired voice, still not opening his eyes.
"It's DC Webb. Listen Dan, you're in hospital. You were attacked earlier tonight."
"Shot?" It sounded like a question.
"Yes, you were shot. But you're going to be all right. Can you tell me who shot you?"
"He wanted to make it up to her. That's why he took her. You have to find her before..." Dan replied incoherently and Mickey could only assume that he was talking about Emma and not just rambling on deliriously.
"Who? Who took her? Was it the same person who shot you?"
"Yes, recognized him, but Emma didn't. She doesn't remember."
Mickey tried to quell his rising frustration. Maybe the doctor had been right and it was too early.
"A name. I need to know his name, Dan." He tried again.
"Matt, he shot Matt, too." Dan said, his drugged mind obviously mixing past and present events.
"You sure?" Mickey couldn't help but ask. Dan seemed to be in a pretty bad way and they needed to be sure.
"Positive." Dan only replied. "It was him. He's...he's been living next door all along." The last bit didn't make sense to Mickey at the moment, but he had no time to press Dan further. He had found out what he had come for. Jack was going to be livid when he found out. They had always assumed that the man had left the area, perhaps gone underground. There was still an active warrant out for his arrest, but the search died down in the months that had elapsed since Matt's murder.
"Dan, I need to go now. You just rest and get better, okay?"
Deep in thought, he left Dan's bedside. With the new information, his earlier suspicions about Will's accident only seemed to be validated. It would be very unlikely if Will's accident had been just that – an accident. He didn't know the full story of why and how Dan had been injured yet beyond what the doctors had told him, but it was no stretch of imagination to think that the same man was behind both murder attempts, The only question now was, what did he want from Emma? They had always assumed that Matt had been the intended target and that they had only tried to get rid of Emma out of fear she could identify them. But Emma had no memory of the shooting of most of the subsequent events, so why had he abducted her? Mickey was convinced that once they had answered that question, they would know where to find Emma. He could only hope that by then, it wouldn't be too late already.
TBC