Mac went home later that evening. As he was going into the elevator, there was a guy getting in at the same time. He was dressed in a suit and had thick glasses on and he seemed to have a stiff neck. "It's very cold out there tonight, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," Mac replied. He wondered where this character came from. He thought he had met a lot of strange people lately but none of them led to that suspect. Mac got out of the elevator at his floor and went to his apartment. He did not like unlocking all those locks but he supposed he had to. He hung up his coat and went straight to his bedroom after he locked the door. He was tired and intended to get some rest tonight. He looked around the room. He could not help but feel like someone was watching him. He looked at the wall over his bed and the hole. He would have to cover that with something until it could be fixed.

Mac went into the kitchen to his "junk" drawer and got the roll of duct tape. He had a roll of red duct tape. He was amazed at how many colors there were now. He went back to the wall and started to cover the hole but then he heard Mindy say, "Detective Taylor?"

Mac scowled. "I'm sorry if I woke you," he said.

"Oh, you didn't. I was wondering if you could come over here for a minute?"

Mac considered that a moment. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. Could you just come over?"

"What's the problem?"

"Oh, please, Detective, will you just come? You can get the key from the landlord."

"Uhm, you mean you can't get to the door?"

"No."

Mac thought she sounded like she was whining a little. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.

"No," Mindy said in a pitiful, almost whimper.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Mac left his apartment wondering what Mindy could be wanting him to do. He passed that guy with the stiff neck from the elevator again. He glanced at him but kept walking. He went up to the landlord's apartment. Mac did not think the man would be happy to see him again but he would see him anyway. He knocked on the door and waited.

Alfred opened the door and stared at Mac. "What do you want?" he asked quietly.

Mac looked at him a moment thinking that he looked awfully sad. "I need the key to Mindy Peters' apartment," he said. "She's in a predicament and she asked me to get her key and help her."

"Sure." Alfred gave Mac the keys. "Just bring them back."

Alfred started to close the door but Mac stopped the door. "Are you alright?" Mac asked.

Alfred looked at him. "You were right," he said. "She never came back."

Mac frowned. "I'm sorry."

"I really loved her."

Mac did not know what to say but he knew what it was like for someone to leave and then never come back but at least he was not married to her. "I have to go and help Mindy," he said. "I'll bring these back as soon as I can."

Alfred nodded and closed the door. Mac shook his head and went on back down the hall. Just as Mac was about to go into the elevator to go back down to Mindy's apartment, the guy with the stiff neck walked up beside him. "Detective Taylor," he said.

Mac was shocked that the guy knew his name. "Who are you?" he asked. "Have we met?"

"No, and you don't know me. I came to warn you that your life is in danger as well as Christine's life."

Mac frowned and then grabbed his phone. "No need to call her," the man said. "My associate is looking after her."

Mac stared at him. "How do I know I can trust you? And how do you know this?"

"Trust me, Detective. I know things about a lot of people and I'm here to help you."

The elevator opened and Mac and the other guy got in. "Can't I even know your name?" Mac asked.

"It's better that you don't," the man said.

"I'm about to go down and help my neighbor…how do you know that Christine is in danger?"

"Like I said, I know a lot of things."

"How do you even know about Christine?"

"Detective, must you ask all these questions?"

"Yes, I must! How do I know you're not involved?"

"The woman, Teresa, as you know her, who is married to your landlord…her name is not Teresa."

Mac frowned and stared at the man. "Then who is she?"

"She is a professional killer. Those first two times were just tests and humiliation. I assume that whoever is wanting to kill you wanted to humiliate you first otherwise you would be dead right now…or maybe they thought the drugs would kill you and get it over with. Anyway, someone is wanting you dead."

"Who?"

"We're not sure yet. We have not been able to track down who hired her yet. She is very well hidden."

They got out of the elevator and started toward Mindy's apartment. "Are you telling me that she married my landlord just to get close to me?" Mac asked.

"I don't know that," the man said. "She may have done that just to be comfortable and it was just convenient when she was hired to kill you."

"This doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't, but I need into your apartment so I can scan it for listening devices."

Mac sighed and stared at the man. Somehow he knew the man was telling him the truth. "Alright," he said. He opened the door to his apartment and let the other man in. "I have to go and help Mindy."

"Be careful."

Mac closed the door and went around the corner to Mindy's apartment. He went in and walked toward the bedroom door slowly. He was not comfortable in this situation. "Mindy?" he said.

"Detective Taylor?" Mindy said. "Oh, hurry. I am in the bedroom."

Mac scowled and went on in there. He was surprised to see Mindy cuffed to her bed stead. "Get this off," she said. "I couldn't get to my phone and no one could hear me until you came home."

Mac walked over there. "How did you get like this?" he asked.

Mindy bit her bottom lip looking embarrassed. "Well, they're supposed to come off by flipping this little switch here, but it broke off," she said. "I was just testing them."

Mac looked at the cuffs which had pink feathers on them. He looked at Mindy with an amused look. "And where is the key?" he asked.

"It's in my robe pocket, in the bathroom."

Mac shook his head as he went to the bathroom and found the key. He went back and unlocked the cuffs. "Excuse me!" Mindy said and ran into the bathroom and closed the door.

Mac had rescued people from weird situations but he did not know if any were weirder than this one. Mindy soon came from the bathroom. "Oh, I thank you so much," she said. "I was beginning to think I would never get loose."

"You should make sure you have the key if you're going to do something like this," Mac said and gave her the key.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble when you've already got enough trouble."

"Just be careful."

Mac left and went back to his apartment. The man was scanning the apartment. "And just what are we going to do?" Mac asked. "Are we going to try and find this woman? My team and I are looking for her."

"You don't have the technology that I have to look for her."

Mac frowned. "I want to know who you are," he said.

"I told you, it's better if you don't know."

Mac stared at him a moment. "I have access to a lot of databases and I can find out who you are," he said. "If you're doing anything illegal to know all this, I can find you."

The man looked at Mac with an uninterested look. "You'll be wasting your time," he said and continued his scan of the apartment. "I think that the killer wanted to make you hurt Christine yourself or something like that. I haven't figured out the reason for the drugging."

"Maybe if we find out who hired her, we can find out the reasons," Mac said. He got his phone and called Christine.

Christine woke up as she heard her phone ringing. "Hello," she said sleepily.

"Christine, are you alright?" Mac asked.

"Yes. Why?"

Mac walked into the kitchen. "There's a guy here who says we are in danger and that, Teresa, the landlord's wife, is a hired killer. She's a hit woman."

Christine was trying to absorb all that. "What? Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"I don't know. Maybe just because you're with me."

Christine heard that worried tone in Mac's voice. "Mac, don't worry about it. What guy do you have there who knows about this?"

"I don't know. He's some guy who claims he knows all about this and he also says his 'associate' is watching after you."

"There's no one here," Christine said as she pulled her covers up further.

"I don't think it's anything to be afraid of. He's probably outside the building." Mac remembered the guy in the black suit. "It may be that guy we saw wearing the black suit."

"He was kinda creepy."

"Yeah, but I don't think he is creepy."

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out this whole situation. I can't understand why they would drug me like that."

"Maybe they wanted to torture you, cause you to lose your job."

"Maybe."

"I hope you can figure out who is doing this."

"Just wait for me in the morning before you go to the restaurant. I don't want you to go alone."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Mac ended the call and sighed. He hated it that Christine was involved in something like this. He wanted to be there with her but he had some strange guy scanning his apartment. He went into the living room where the guy was. "I already found a camera in this apartment," he said.

"Yes, she had been watching you in your bedroom," the man said.

Mac frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I already told you that I know things."

"What do you plan to do after this?"

"My associate will take your girlfriend somewhere safe."

Mac was suddenly concerned. "What?" he asked.

"He will move her somewhere safe so we can concentrate on you since you are more likely the target. They're only using her to get to you and if they can't find her, they will come after you directly."

Mac stood there a moment to absorb that. "You can't take her," he said.

The man looked at Mac. "Don't worry about her," he said.

"You know, I could call my detectives and they could be here in a few minutes and we would find out all about you after you were arrested."

"You have a tendency to threaten people who are trying to help you, Detective. You don't like it because you're not in control."

Mac grabbed his phone and started to call Christine. "There's no need to call her," he man said. "She will be out of touch for a while but I assure you, she is safe."

Christine was wide awake now. She did not think she would be going back to sleep any time soon. She got up and went to get a bottle of water and then she heard someone knock on the door. She did not think that could be Mac and she did not know who would be here this time of night. She walked slowly into the living room. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Christine, open the door," the man said. "I'm here to help you."

Christine thought that sounded crazy. "Are you kidding?"

"Absolutely not. You can ask my associate. He'll tell you I have no sense of humor."

Christine watched as the door opened and the guy in the black suit came in. She started to run to her bedroom, but he grabbed her and covered her mouth. "Don't scream," he said in his quiet voice. "I'm here to take you somewhere safe."

Christine remembered that Mac said this guy was on their side. She nodded and the man let go of her. She stared at him. "How do I know I can trust you?" she asked.

"Someone is trying to kill your boyfriend and they're going to try and get to you to draw him out. It will be better for him and you if I can concentrate on one location. Go and get some clothes on so we can leave."

Christine stared at him a moment and then went to her room. She got into some comfortable clothes and then grabbed her cell phone and keys from the nightstand. She went into the living room where the guy was still standing there waiting for her. She got her jacket from the coat rack and as she was about to put her phone in the pocket, he took it. "You can't take this with you," he said. "If you have this, she can trace you and that would defeat the purpose of being in a safe place, wouldn't it?"

"How am I supposed to call Mac?" Christine asked.

"I will let him know that you're okay."

Just then, Christine's phone rang. He ignored the call and put the phone in the other coat pocket on the coat rack. Then he got Christine by the arm and they were out the door. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"To a safe place."

"What am I supposed to call you?"

"You can call me John." He touched his ear and said, "I've got her."

Mac stared at his phone as the call ended. He looked at the man who was packing up his equipment. "She didn't answer," he said.

The man seemed to be listening to something. "She's with my associate now," he said. He looked at Mac and went over to the sofa. He reached under the edge of the sofa and pulled out a small device. He stood up and showed it to Mac.

Mac stared at the bug. "So what is your plan?" he asked.

"We're going to stop her."

"That's a very simple plan."

"It usually works."

"Can I at least know your name?"

"Just call me Finch."

Mac stared at him a moment. The guy had an unwavering stare, so Mac thought he must be telling him the truth. "You think she's going to come after me?" he asked.

"I'm certain she will. She's not one to give up."

Mac thought he might as well accept their help, but he was not inclined to accept help since his team was on this. He knew the woman could not get into the lab, but when he was out of there, she could definitely get to him. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"We wait. She's going to make her move soon when she thinks you're alone or vulnerable once she realizes she can't get Christine."

John blindfolded Christine while they were in the car so that she would not know where they were going. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Somewhere safe," John replied. "Just relax. You're safe now."

Christine was not sure whether she trusted that or not but she trusted Mac and if he thought this guy was one of the good guys, she supposed she would trust that too.