"Holy mother!"

Jack shook his head. For the last quarter hour he had fought his way through traffic. Cars everywhere, people everywhere. The traffic lights going faster on red as he was able to accelerate. And not to speak of the bikers! Going up and down of the sidewalk – just to bypass any red lights. And of course they had no interest in coming cars.

"Is he still there?", Jack asked via ear piece.

"Yes, he hasn't moved for the last 5 minutes", Riley confirmed. Then a short silence.

"What?"

"I don't know, something feels off", Riley stated, "There was this kind of wrangle we could hear, and now it's way too silent. They aren't even talking right now."

"Maybe he's just waiting for someone", Jack thought, but he knew Riley wouldn't believe him. He didn't even believe himself.

Yes, there was something fishy. They all heard the wrangle, the panicked sobs and coughs, then a heartbreaking "I'm so sorry" from Mac. Jack had a very bad feeling about this, something big must have happened. A dumb slump right after Mac's words, then there had been a little rustle, some car doors being opened and closed – and now, silence.

Jack parked the car a little offside. He eyed the area from a distance. His look was grumpy and fierce. Nothing moved.

"I'm going in", he informed Riley.

"There's a side opening on the right, it's on the first floor", Riley answered. Jack wasn't even surprised that she didn't stop him. She was worried as well.

"I see it", Jack copied, "I'm looking for a ladder."

He didn't have to search long. There was an old metal ladder right on the wall, heading to a small metal balcony. The balcony reached perfectly to the door on the first floor. With fast pace, taking two steps in one, Jack climbed up. He positioned himself right next to the old door frame, listening. Nothing to hear from the inside.

With a last safety look he opened the door. Surprisingly it didn't squeak at all. Jack sighed in relief. It was fatal now to give in his location. And it would get Mac in danger.

The inside of the warehouse was dark, very dark. On one side there was a single neon light lit, dipping the wide area in a scary tone of light. Large shadows kept creeping on the walls as Jack moved forward.

With every step, Jack's feeling changed. At first he was sure, that Mac would be in somewhere, waiting for someone, but now he was more and more sure, that Mac wasn't even in there anymore. Jack's uneasiness grew immensely. Hopefully he was wrong.

"Where is his signal, I'm not seeing him", he said.

"Right in front of you, very close to the main gate", the answer came from Riley. "You should be seeing by now."

Jack reached up a little higher, getting a better overview of the room. "He's not there, Riles, I'm not seeing him."

Silence on Riley's side. "That's impossible", she said, sounding stressed, "His signal is right in front of you."

"Wait, I see something", Jack interrupted her. And yes, he got vision of a human body, lying on the floor.

Mac!

With fast steps Jack came closer. His breathing sped up. Was it Mac down there? What happened? Sweat formed on his forehead.

Please, don't be Mac!

The closer he came, the more relieved he got. The size was wrong, the skin color, the hair. No, this wasn't Mac. But Jack wasn't actually feeling thrilled about it. Of course he was happy that it wasn't Mac, but who was this guy? And why was he on the same spot as Mac? And why did Mac vanish?

"Riles, there's a guy lying on the ground", Jack informed her.

Only a few steps away from the body, Jack pulled his gun. Maybe it was an ambush and they would wait for him to make a mistake. So Jack decided to keep creeping the shadows. Still, he moved closer.

He waited a few seconds, that he reached a decision: The warehouse was empty. So there won't be any danger. "Mac's not here! But there is a body right in front of me." He sprinted over, falling on his knees. The man on the ground was lying on his stomach, eyes closed. Jack reached for the neck, feeling the pulse.

"Dead", he said plainly.

And no signs of Mac.

"Jack, my computer shows me that you're standing right on Mac's position right now."

Jack looked up confused. "Yeah, but he's not there!"

Mac, where are you?

His signal was there, but Mac was obviously not in sight.

The transmitter!

It must be his transmitter! His transmitter was still in the warehouse, but he wasn't. And if he was on the same spot as Mac right now, that must mean - !

Jack reached for the dead man. With fast hands felt over the whole body, trying to find the transmitter. It must be with this man! And he was rewarded. With his fingers he could feel the little, square transmitter chip that had been planted in Mac's turtle neck pullover. It was still blinking as he pulled it from the clothes of the man.

"Got him", Jack sighed. He started to chew on his lip, not sure what to do next.

So Mac was on the lone wolf mission again! Like last time! And last time it almost ended in a catastrophe as Mac and his "victim" had been ambushed by some freaky and scary trained military guys that wanted to kill both. Why was he always doing something like that? Jack drew a hand through his short stubbly hair. This was driving him crazy.

Or had Mac been kidnapped? Jack's breathe stuck in his throat. He could feel his heart beating faster as he recalled the wrangle he witnessed to the ear piece. Was it a wrangle because Mac had been captured and ended up being grabbed by some people? Jack got scared.

But why would he say "I'm so sorry" then? This didn't fit in the picture! Why would anybody be sorry about being kidnapped? No, this wasn't right.

And why would Mac leave his transmitter with a dead body? If he would have been kidnapped, he would have done anything to keep the chip with him, so Riley would be able to detect him. So why leaving it here?

"Riles, there is something really off here!"

And then it clicked.

The wrangle. The "I'm so sorry" part of Mac. The dead body. The transmitter.

Mac had killed this man.

"He didn't -!", Jack cursed as he reached for the neck on more time. But still, there was no pulse. Mac really -!?

No, no! This can't be true! Mac would never kill an innocent person just to keep his cover! There was something wrong about this whole setup.

The transmitter!

Think, think!

Why would Mac mark his victim with his transmitter chip and would give away his chance to be followed by Jack? So Jack would find the body. But why would Jack want to find a body?

Because he's not dead!

Crap!

This was it, the mystery's solution!

Jack turned the body. Now the man was lying on his back. His face was frozen with a terror look. So he really thought Mac was about to kill him. Jack felt sad for the man.

He remembered Mac telling him about a technique he read about in a magazine for martial arts. It was a move to block the flow of some energy points, if Jack recalled it correctly, that would cause the heart to beat so slow you won't be able to feel a pulse. You would end up staying in a coma like state unless somebody opened the flow again.

Jack pressed some points on the chest and the neck.

With a loud scream the man sky rocketed upwards, almost hitting heads with Jack.

Jack drew his hand over his whole face, stopping right over his mouth, massaging his chin. This wasn't about to go well. Jack didn't like this at all.

Mac, what are you doing?