The klaxons soon sounded within Station 51. Captain Stanley glanced at Roy with concern. He had tried to convince Roy to take some time off, but he had refused. He had insisted that working took his mind off of the situation, but Stanley knew that that was entirely false.
Captain Stanley grimaced as he wrote down the location and information before passing it on to Roy. The squad had been called to the Sheriff's department for a woman who'd collapsed. He watched with growing concern as the squad left the station.
Bellingham and Roy shared a worried glance as they parked outside of the Sheriff's department. They got their needed equipment and went inside. Crockett was waiting for them and he led them to one of the larger rooms.
Roy went in first and saw Vince kneeling beside a woman who was passed out in the chair. He noticed the Sheriff standing to the side.
He questioned "Vince, what happened?"
Vince replied "I brought her in this morning after she saw some upsetting images. She just fainted."
Bellingham nodded and got some of the equipment out while calling Rampart. He and Roy worked efficiently and roused the woman. She began to weep, but her readings were within normal range.
She stuttered "I-it's a-awful! Who w-would do such a t-thing!?"
Roy grimaced as he shared a look with Bellingham and got the final verdict from Rampart. She wouldn't have to go to the hospital. They had calmed her down sufficiently. Bellingham began packing their stuff up, but he paused as he caught sight of what was on the table. His breath caught and he bit his lip.
Roy frowned in confusion and looked towards where Bellingham was looking. He dropped what he was holding as he caught sight of one of the images. Someone was missing their fingernails on at least one hand.
Vince cursed and put his hand on Roy's shoulder as Roy stood.
Roy quietly spoke "Are those pictures of what I think they are? Please tell me that those aren't from the guy who has Johnny. Please."
Vince sighed as he said "I'm sorry, Roy. You shouldn't have seen this."
Roy's brow twitched and he clenched his hands into a fist and said "No. Let me see them. I want to know what the jerk's doing to my partner. I have to know. I don't want to just have sparse details anymore. I need to know."
Bellingham looked away from the pictures and gently laid his hand on Roy's shoulder as he said "We should get back to the station, Roy."
Roy glared at him and said "No. I'm staying right here! I want to know what's happened!"
Bellingham shared a look with Vince and Vince sighed.
Vince said "Go on out, Bellingham."
Bellingham nodded and took the equipment back out to the squad while Roy sat in a chair close to the table. Crockett didn't seem too pleased, but the guy was technically still at the station on a call, so he couldn't really stop Roy from seeing the case photos that were already spread out.
Roy paled further as he glanced at pictures of his partner. His hands formed fists as he saw the photos of the derogatory term on Johnny's chest. He watched as the Sheriff grabbed the newest manila envelope and dumped out the contents.
He sucked in a harsh breath as a handkerchief that was enclosed spilled out onto the table and opened to show its contents. His breathing pattern changed, and a waste bin was quickly placed beside him as he got sick. He was furious as he wiped his mouth and Vince patted his shoulder in sympathy.
Roy soon straightened back up and glanced at the rest of the contents that had fallen from the envelope. His anger grew as he saw pictures of his friend's injured form. Johnny's chest had been cut open and restitched, and the derogatory term was still in perfect condition!
Bellingham soon came back into the room and said "Roy, we've really got to go. I had to call us in as available."
Roy glanced at Bellingham, the fire of anger still blazing in his eyes as he said "I'll be there in a minute."
Bellingham nodded as Roy stood.
Roy steeled his jaw as he looked at Vince and said "Keep me informed. I've got to go back to work."
Vince nodded and watched as Roy left the station and the squad zoomed away. He hadn't seen Roy DeSoto that angry before, and he wondered if anything would come of it.
The cab was silent as Roy and Bellingham rode back to the station. They soon arrived and Roy parked. He got out and slammed his door hard as Bellingham winced while watching Roy trail off to the locker room.
Chet popped his head in to look out at the bay and saw Bellingham coming.
Chet frowned and said "What was that big slam for?"
Bellingham ushered Chet back into the kitchen and dining room where most of the others were gathered. He quickly filled them in on the situation.
The room was quiet until Captain Stanley sighed and said "I know where Roy's probably at, and I'll talk to him."
The others nodded and watched as Captain Stanley exited. None of them dared to eavesdrop this time.
Hank Stanley smiled softly as he found Roy sitting on the bench in front of Johnny's locker. Roy was holding a small picture from last year that was of him and Johnny at one of the kid's birthday parties. Hank patted Roy's shoulder and sat beside him.
Roy looked up at him and he could see both sorrow and anger in his eyes.
He smiled as he spoke "Jo took this picture. It was Chris's birthday. The kids just think that Johnny's sick and in quarantine. What am I going to tell them if we don't get Johnny back?"
Hank grimaced and replied "We'll get John back alive, Roy. You're both too stubborn for this to end any other way."
Roy huffed and said "Cap, you didn't see the pictures. He's hurt. The guy's torturing him!"
Hank nodded and said "I know that I haven't seen the pictures, Roy. Vince's description was horrifying enough. I take it that those pictures had something to do with the run you and Bellingham just got back from. We've got a little bit of time to talk. I stood us down for a little bit."
Roy sniffled and nodded as he wiped his teary eyes.
Roy spoke "The woman apparently passed out after seeing some photos of Johnny. There were pictures of his chest all stitched up. The guy apparently cut into him. The guy took off his fingernails and put them in a handkerchief that was in the envelope with the photos. We need to find him, Cap. This guy's killing him."
Roy wiped his eyes again as he leaned on his knees and tried to stop the tears from falling.
Hank looked down as he patted Roy's back.
He looked at Roy's face again and said "Just let it out, Roy."
Roy leaned further forward and gasped as the tears flowed. He couldn't stop them. It was as if his Captain's permission to break down had taken away the barrier holding his tears back. He wept as his Captain sat with him.
Once Roy was calmer, Hank said "Roy, I'm putting you on leave for now."
Roy looked up, and was about to protest, but Hank shushed him.
Hank spoke again "You can stay at the station, but you won't be on active duty. I know that you want to stay so that you'll be here if a call comes in that says they've found John. Go call Joanne. I'll call in a temporary replacement."
Roy nodded and reluctantly agreed. He was grateful that he'd at least be able to stay at the station during the day.
Crockett questioned the woman. She had given them the best description of the guy who had handed her the envelope that she could. It really hadn't helped much. All they had was that the guy was a skinny white male. They couldn't even be sure that it had been the killer that had approached the woman.
The woman was eventually allowed to leave and the evidence remained on the table. The sickening token of Johnny's torture could easily be seen by all present. They feared that missing fingernails were the least of John Gage's pain when looking at the images of his sutured chest.
They held another conference with updates at noon.
Jason groaned as he came to a traffic stop and noticed that the way home would be delayed for at least a few hours due to a car wreck! He was frustrated, and blocked into his lane, so he couldn't even turn back or take an alternate way.
Johnny groaned as he once again woke up. He felt like he hadn't been out for long since the last time he passed out from the pain.
He was more aware this time than he had been previously and he could now feel and see that he was hooked up to an IV. He grimaced. Everything was hurting and his vision was blurry. He moved his arms and groaned. He hadn't been able to do that for a while.
It ached to do it, but he moved his arms again and ripped the IV out. He noticed that all of his chest and head restraints were gone. He gritted his teeth as he moved his arms to grip the side of the metal table that he was restrained to. He tensed his jaw in pain as he carefully sat up.
He couldn't help but cry out in pain and let a few tears loose as he leaned forward. He was tired, but he knew that he had to try and get out of the leg restraints. He leaned further forward and yelled in pain as he quickly sat back up.
His breathing was becoming erratic. He quickly did his best to control it, and remembered an old song that his mother used to sing to him in times of fear or uncertainty. Her mother had passed it down to her and so forth. He remembered another tribal song that his mother taught him, and he started humming. It hurt his head, but it was comforting. He did that for a few minutes before he took a breath and prepared himself to lean forward again.
He gritted his teeth as he leaned forward and fiddled with the restraints around his legs. His hands were hurting, and his breathing was irregular, but he was able to get the restraints off. He carefully sat up again.
After a couple of minutes, he attempted to move his legs off of the metal table. He hissed in pain as he moved. He felt his feet hit the cool floor.
He attempted to stand. It was then when he realized that he had a Foley catheter inserted. He was horrified by all that his captor had done to him, but he couldn't dwell. It was painful as he removed it. He was just glad that he still had his shorts on.
He wobbled on his legs and nearly fell, but he gripped the metal table to keep his balance. He had to get out of there.
His legs were slowly starting to get the feeling back in them. He was still shaky, and knew that he wasn't doing very well. His head was pounding as he stumbled towards the entrance. He groaned as his vision kept coming in and out of focus.
He eventually got out of the room, stumbled up a few steps, and was greeted with dim lighting coming through the curtains of what looked to be a room down the hall. He must have been in the basement.
Johnny stuck close to the bare wall as he went towards the end of the hall. He eventually made it into what appeared to be a living room. He looked around and stared for a few minutes in each place until his eyes would focus for a little bit. It felt like his concussion was getting worse by the second.
He smiled in relief when he looked to his far right and noticed a phone sitting on a counter. He stumbled his way towards it and leaned against the side of the counter where it rested. He took a deep and painful breath as he dialed the first number that he remembered. He called Station 51, hoping that they wouldn't be out on a call.
The phone at Station 51 rang late in the afternoon until Roy answered. The others had all been called out to a structure fire only minutes ago.
Roy answered and was greeted with a voice that he immediately recognized.
Roy listened with surprise as Johnny spoke low and rapidly over the phone. Johnny's voice was slurring majorly, but he was still getting the point across. Roy knew that Johnny was still in mortal danger. The further the conversation went on, the more worried Johnny sounded.
A few minutes later Roy was terrified when he heard a large sound over the line and what sounded like a pained yell from Johnny. He yelled Johnny's name and pleaded for him to come back on the line. He then heard who he presumed to be Johnny's kidnapper curse and hang up.
Roy quickly hung up the phone and then dialed KCFD. Johnny had told him the name of the guy and the address of the place based upon a piece of mail that the guy had left sitting around. He had to act quickly if he wanted to get his partner out of there alive.