Mac sat at his desk until that evening and then Jamie Lovato came to his office. "Mac, we have a lead on Wayne Bryant," she said.
"Where?" Mac asked.
"A neighbor reported seeing him at an apartment building over in Queens."
"Get a team together and meet me downstairs."
"I'm on it."
Mac went to Jo's office. "We have a lead," he said. "Let's get ready."
Jo followed Mac to the lab and let Danny know what was going on. They all went downstairs to get with the other team and form a plan. Mac knew he had to stay in the truck but he would monitor things with the radio. He could not chase anyone as he knew.
Mac laid out the plan that the others would follow to try and get to Wayne Bryant before he knew they were coming. They would go in quiet with no sirens and try not to make a spectacle before they got into the building. They headed that way and soon arrived outside the apartment building that had been specified. Mac hated to sit there in the truck and wait, but he could not get in the way.
Danny, Jo, Jamie and the rest of the team headed into the apartment building which left Mac in the truck. He could hear them over the radio but they could not hear him. He could not tell them what to do inside because he was not in there.
They all got into the elevator, and went up to the tenth floor which was where the call came from. It was not easy to sneak down a hallway where a lot of people lived. There were a few people in the hall and Danny motioned for them to get inside their apartments. They moved on down that hall and around the corner to the right hallway and got ready to forcefully enter the apartment.
Two officers took the battering ram and rammed the door open. "N.Y.P.D.!" Danny yelled as they went into the apartment, but there was no one in sight. They went on inside and began searching.
Mac was sitting in the truck waiting anxiously to see if they would find Bryant in there. Suddenly, a gun barrel came through the open window of the truck and then Wayne Bryant was there. Mac glared at him. "You better give up," he said.
"Get out of that truck," Bryant said.
"I will not."
"Get out or I will blow you away." Bryant pulled the hammer back on the gun.
Mac was angry clear to the bone but he pulled the handle of the truck, but instead of just trying to climb out, he shoved the door open, causing Bryant to fall down. Mac started to get out of the truck, but then Bryant shoved the truck on his leg. Mac yelled out with pain as Bryant leaned on the door. "Get out of that truck slowly," he said.
Mac did not think he could get out any other way now. He grabbed his leg when the door was off it. He was plain mad now but he got down from the truck. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to keep my promise," Bryant replied. "I'll show you what suffering is and don't try anything or I will shoot you."
Mac had no choice but to walk on with the man. He did not want to be shot. If he got shot, he sure would not be able to get to his wedding. Bryant walked him around to another alley and to a car around there. Mac looked around but there was no one around. He supposed Bryant knew how to do things without anyone seeing. He had gotten away with four murders.
"Get in that car," Bryant demanded.
"No," Mac said.
"Get in there!"
"NO! Go ahead and kill me!" Mac could not believe he said that. This was a murderer and he would think nothing of killing him.
Instead of killing him, Bryant hit him on the back of the head. Mac fell into the side of the car and then Bryant opened the trunk and put him in there. He tried to keep him from closing the trunk, but he could not. He knew he was in trouble now. What did Bryant think he was going to do to him? I'll show you what suffering is. What did that mean?
Jo went back out to the Avalanche to get the forensics kit and she was surprised to see that Mac was not there. "Mac!" she called. She took her weapon out and looked around there as she saw the door of the truck open. She got her phone and called Danny. "Mac is not in the truck," she said. "Did he come in?"
"If he's in here, he's not in this apartment," Danny replied. "Maybe he hasn't got up here yet."
"Wherever he is, he left the door of the truck open."
"Maybe he hasn't got up here yet."
"Maybe."
Jo went ahead and got the forensics kit and went back inside. She walked into the apartment and expected to see Mac there, but of course, he was not. "Where did he go?" she asked.
"You don't think he saw Bryant come out and went after him, do you?" Danny asked.
"Surely he wouldn't."
"Are you kidding? He would."
Jo was not sure what to do. They had no way of knowing which way Mac would have gone if he went after the guy, and she could not see Mac running after that guy with his legs bruised the way they were. "He could at least call," she said. "If he's after him and I call him, it could put him in danger."
Danny knew that was true but he did not think Mac would be out after that guy. "I'm going to call him anyway," he said. He got his phone and dialed Mac's number. It rung several times and then went to voice mail. "He didn't answer."
"I don't like this one bit."
They knew what a dangerous person they were chasing and he could have gotten the jump on Mac. "What do we do?" Danny asked. "I don't think Mac would just disappear like that."
"Have some officers go out and do a search around. If he's out after Bryant, he might be coming back."
"I'll go myself. You can handle this here."
"Right."
Danny took two officers with him and went outside. He did not know which way to go but he started in the direction away from the front of the truck. There was no sign of anything until he got to the end of the alley and found Mac's cell phone. He frowned as he picked it up. "No wonder he didn't answer it," he said. He looked down the alley and found that Mac's badge was also down there. He went down there to it and gathered it up. Next, he found Mac's wallet. He knew something was wrong now. He called Jo and let her know.
"We better get an APB out, "Jo said. She remembered that Wayne Bryant had called Mac, and she had not known everything he said in that conversation.
Mac was still in the trunk of that car and he could not move very much. His legs felt cramped in there and it seemed to make them ache even more. He would not let that guy do anything to him. He would figure out how to get away from him. It was not long until the car stopped. Mac heard Bryant get out of the car and slam the door and then he heard him walking around toward the back of the car.
Mac thought he would try to jump the guy when he got out of that trunk. Bryant unlocked the car and then he shined a bright light in Mac's eyes. He could not help but close his eyes as the light dazzled them. "Get out of there," Bryant said.
Mac wished he could get up fast, but he could not. He sat up and Bryant held the gun on him aimed at his head. "You know I'm a good shot," Bryant said.
Mac glared at him. "Why don't you put that gun down and we'll fight it out?" he asked.
"Why would I want to do that? I know I can't beat you like that."
Mac got out of the trunk and stood there to see what Bryant would do next. He closed the trunk and then motioned with the gun for Mac to walk toward the house they were at. Mac wondered whose house it was. They had not found any property that was in Wayne Bryant's name. As they got inside, Mac realized that this was where Bryant had been staying. It was fully furnished.
"Get in there," Bryant said and gestured toward a door. Mac went to the door and opened it.
There was nothing in that room but a chair. "Sit down," Bryant demanded.
"You know what they will do to you when they find you after this?" Mac asked.
"I don't want to hear your threats or your reasoning. Just sit down."
Mac sat down and just as Bryant was about to cuff him to the chair, he tilted the chair over backward and knocked Bryant down. Mac rolled over and tried to get up fast, but Bryant grabbed his ankle and jerked his leg from under him and Mac fell to the floor again, but then he kicked Bryant in the face.
This time, Mac was able to get up to his feet but Bryant was fast and he was on his feet too, and he had the gun again. "You better stop now," he said.
Mac stared at the barrel of the gun and then glared at Bryant. "What do you think you're going to do?" he asked.
"Set that chair up and sit down in it, and don't try anything again or I will just shoot you and then I'll leave you here to die alone."
Mac frowned, but he knew the man meant it. He set the chair up with the thought of hitting Bryant with it but if he got shot here, he might never make it out alive. He sat down in the chair and then Bryant suddenly jabbed him in the neck with a needle. Mac almost jumped out of the chair but it was too late. Whatever he gave him worked fast because he found himself unable to get up. He felt Bryant cuffing his hands behind him and then he was asleep.
Jo and the others had finished at the apartment and they had not seen anything that would lead to Mac. "Why would he kidnap Mac?" Jo asked.
"Mac was trying to make the guy angry," Danny said. "It looks like he succeeded. He knew Mac couldn't go in there with us."
"He seems to be one step ahead of us all the time. How did he even know we were coming there?"
"I want to know the answer to that myself. We left here as soon as we got that message. There's no way he could have heard anything on the police scanner or anything like that."
"He wouldn't have anyway because we had radio silence."
Danny looked into the lab. "There couldn't be anyone here helping him," he said quietly.
"That's absurd," Jo replied. "I think he's just good at guessing or at calculating what will happen next. There are people who do that, you know."
"Or he let us know where that apartment was on purpose."
Jo looked at Danny. "What would he want with Mac?"
"I don't know but it can't be anything good."
When Mac woke up, he was sitting at a table. He felt like his eyes would not focus but he finally realized his hands were cuffed to a table. His eyes widened when he saw that there were artificial nails on his hands. "Hey!" he yelled and looked around him. What did that guy think he was doing? He remembered that the man had killed all those women because of those fake nails.
Wayne Bryant walked in then. "Well, you're finally awake," he said. "How do you like the beautiful job I've done?"
"Are you out of your mind!" Mac could not believe he asked that. Of course the man was out of his mind. "What do you think you're doing?"
Bryant came and sat down at the table across from Mac and leaned on the table. "I'll tell you what I'm doing," he said. "I'm going to make you a public example."
"Of what?"
"Of what happens when you try to humiliate me."
"You have humiliated yourself!"
"We'll see."
Mac watched as Bryant went into the other room and then came back with a needle and a bottle. "What are you doing?" Mac asked.
"I won't give you enough to kill you," Bryant said. "I just want you to know what it's like to have a low blood sugar and feel like you're dying."
Mac was horrified. He knew what insulin could do to a person who was not a diabetic. "NO!" he yelled but he could not get away. He was taped to the chair he was sitting in and his hands were cuffed to the table. "You can't do this!"
"Yes I can," Bryant said. "As a matter of fact, I can do anything I want to you."
Mac was starting to get scared as he watched him draw the insulin out. "NO!" He pulled at the cuffs that were holding him to the table but it was no use…they were metal.
Bryant came toward him with the needle. Mac tried to back up but he could not do that either. "I can give this to you just about anywhere," Bryant said.
"Please," Mac said.
"Are you begging?"
Mac frowned and glared at him. "It's not my fault that you're a diabetic."
"I never said it was."
Mac tried to move away from him but he gave him the shot anyway. "You won't feel the effects of that for about thirty minutes," Bryant said. He turned to leave the room.
"Hey, don't leave me in here!" Mac said.
"I'll be back."
Mac sat there wondering what would happen to him. He was scared now. He knew he could go into a coma and die. Worst of all, he could not even move. He wondered what that maniac would do next but after a few minutes, he started to feel lightheaded and shaky. "Hey!" he yelled. He started to feel nervous and sweaty.
Bryant came back into the room and sat down across from Mac. "How do you feel?" he asked.
Mac felt like he was going to cry. "I'm stuck," he said as he was starting to feel confused.
"Stuck where?"
"Help me."
"Where do you think you are?"
"I don't know." Mac shook his head as his vision was blurred now. He stared at the table even though he could hardly see anything now.
"You don't feel too good, do you?" Bryant asked.
Mac did not answer because he was not really comprehending what the other was saying now. "I guess I better help you then," Bryant said. He put a glucose tablet into Mac's mouth. "Chew that up."
Mac did not know what he was talking about at the moment but he felt the tablet in his mouth and he started chewing it. He soon started to feel a little better and then Bryant stuck a straw in his mouth. "Drink that, he said.
Mac started to drink what tasted like a milkshake. He had never felt so bad in his life. His hands were shaking and so were his other muscles. He drank more of the milkshake hoping that it would make him feel better. After he drunk a little more, he felt so sleepy that he just lay over on the table and could not stay awake any longer. He woke up later lying on a bed but he felt horrible. He looked at his hands and knew that he had not been dreaming. He still had the artificial nails on. His fingernails felt sore with those things on there. He had never known much about those things. Claire had never worn them and Christine did not wear them either. He supposed when someone was a chef, they could not wear things like that. More importantly, he still felt very weak and wondered what that insulin was doing to him. He knew that insulin was very dangerous to a non-diabetic.
Mac heard something in the other room and soon, Bryant came in with a woman. Mac tried to sit up but he could not sit up fast. His head felt like it was spinning when he did sit up and he was shaking. Bryant brought the woman in there and tied her in a chair. "What are you doing?" Mac asked.
"I'm going to let you watch while I work," Bryant said. "Then you will know what to tell the paper."
Mac could see the terror in the woman's eyes. "Let her go!" he said but he knew he was not going to be doing anything to help her.
"Why would I want to do that?"
"She has done nothing to you!"
Bryant turned the woman around so Mac could see her hands. "See those nails?" he asked. "She's just like all the others…vain."
"That's your opinion!" Mac declared. Then he felt so dizzy he thought he would fall over.
"Well, you're in no condition to be a hero today so you can't stop me."
Mac watched with horror as the man got some sort of tool and began removing the woman's artificial nails. He would not just sit there and let him kill that woman. She was crying. Mac supposed that was hurting her as the nails were being removed. "Let her go!" he demanded.
"NO!" Bryant replied. He laughed at Mac. "You can't do anything to stop me. I know how you're feeling right now."
When he had the nails removed, Bryant turned the woman around to face Mac and then he moved over to the bed. "Now, watch closely," he said.
Mac stared at the woman as he heard the hammer on the gun pulled back and she was crying and panicking. Mac suddenly threw himself at Bryant and the gun went off. The bullet went into the ceiling as Mac caused Bryant to fall to the floor. He could hear the woman screaming but he felt like the world was turning upside down. He tried to keep Bryant from getting up but he could not. Instead, Bryant hit him with the gun.
"You think he is going to demand ransom?" Jamie asked as she was talking to Jo and Danny.
"I wouldn't think so," Jo said.
They all knew that Mac's chances of survival were not good. He was in the hands of a serial killer. Danny paced back and forth. "Well, he obviously hasn't killed him and thrown him out," he said. "He's been missing for hours."
"I don't know what all he said to Mac the last time he called. I just wish we knew where he is."
"Adam is digging to see if there are any properties that we don't know about that are owned by his family or anything. Maybe he has some place out there that we don't know about."
"He must because surely someone would see Mac if he tried to take him into an apartment building."
"I guess all we can do is hope."
"I have to go and tell Christine."
"I'll leave that to you."
Jo nodded. She went into her office and got her purse. She was not about to just call Christine and tell her. She would have to tell her this in person. She went down to the Avalanche and headed to Christine's apartment. She knew she should have told her earlier but she was hoping that they would hear something from Mac. She got to the apartment building and went up to Christine's apartment.
Christine heard someone ring the doorbell and she thought it might be Mac. She had not heard from him tonight but since they were getting married tomorrow, she thought maybe he was trying to get the case over with so they could go on their honeymoon. She got her robe on and headed to the door. "Just a minute," she said as she was unlocking the door. She opened the door expecting to see Mac and was surprised to see Jo there. "Jo. What are you…"
Jo could see the look of fear that came over Christine's face. "Can I come in?" she asked.
"Sure."
Jo went in and Christine closed the door. "What's happened?" Christine asked. "This is about Mac, isn't it?"
"Yes," Jo said. "I didn't want to tell you on the phone."
Christine sat down. She did not know what Jo was about to tell her but she could only think of the worst. "Mac is missing," Jo said. "We had a lead on the suspect and when we went into the building after him, Mac was sitting in the truck and when I came back out, he was gone and we couldn't get in touch with him. Danny found his phone and badge and wallet."
"Well, where is he?"
"We think…we think the serial killer has him."
Christine tried not to cry but she felt like she was shaking inside. "You haven't heard from him?" she asked.
"Not yet," Jo said. She wished she knew something to comfort Christine but she was not comforted herself. "We're doing everything we can to find him."
Christine nodded as she folded her arms. "Thanks for telling me."
Jo looked at her a moment. "You want me to stay with you?" she asked.
"No, I'll be fine."
"I'm sorry."
Jo left and Christine went back to her room. She got into bed and just cried. She loved Mac so much she just wanted him to be there with her. Now he was lost and they did not know how to find him. She cried herself back to sleep.
Jo went back to the lab. She did not want to find Mac murdered somewhere. She did not think she could stand over his body and just think of him as a "victim". It was not hard when they did not know the person but they all knew Mac. She went into the lab where Danny was. "I guess we have to prepare for the worst," Jo said.
Danny shook his head. "Jo, I don't want to think of Mac being dead," he said.
"Well, it may be something we have to face. What are we going to do if we are called to a crime scene and it's Mac?"
"I can't do it. You'll have to take Sheldon with you. He's a doctor."
"Danny, we're investigators. We have to do our jobs."
"I can't." Danny backed away and left the lab.
Jo folded her arms. She knew it would be the hardest thing she ever did but they did not know whether the man would kill Mac or not…but what other reason would he have to kidnap him?