Chapter 2



For the second time that day, Sara heard a knock on her door and looked up.

"Hello, Renee. What are you doing here?"
Renee walked into the room and stood across the desk from her. "Gabriel never came to pick me up for lunch. And he's not at home or at the shop. I'm worried."
"He was here a couple hours ago, but I haven't seen him since. I don't know where he could be."
Just then she saw flashes of a scene. There was a black car. Then, she saw someone being shoved into the backseat. The next thing she saw was the car pulling up to an old, run down barn. She shook her head when she heard Renee saying her name.
"Sara, are you okay?"
"Yeah. You go home and we'll find him. When you get home, stay there. I don't want both of you missing."
She nodded her head. "Okay."
Once Renee had left, Sara picked up the phone and dialed Jake's cell phone number.
"McCarty."
"Jake, it's Pez. I need your help."
"What is it?"
She explained and Jake told her, "I'll be right there. We'll find him."

She hung up the phone and walked outside to wait for him. When he arrived, She climbed into the car and he asked, "So where do we go first?"
She thought for a moment, then suggested the first stable she thought of. "Oak Hill Stables. We'll start there."
*******
Gabriel opened his eyes slowly to find it dark. He groaned, thinking there was a drum beating in his head. He tried to reach up to touch the back of his head, but found that he couldn't. Turning his head to the side, he saw why.
Ropes were tied around his wrists with the other ends hooked to rings on the walls. He tried to pull his arms out of the ropes, but this only tightened his bonds. Giving up, he looked around at his surroundings. In the near darkness, he could see straw covering the floor beneath him. The walls appeared to be made of wood. The only light to come in came from a small hole in one of the walls.
He turned his head to the other side and saw the door. The bottom half was wood, but the top had metal bars running up and down. It dawned on him that he was in an animal stall. Why he was there was another thing though.

He closed his eyes, but was unable to fall asleep. After a while, he heard the door slide open. A man stepped inside and threw a plate of food on the floor in front of him.
Gabriel glanced at it, then up at him. "I think I'll find it difficult to eat that," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Most people find it rather easy," he replied with just as much sarcasm. He left and Gabriel heard the lock move back into place.
He kicked the plate away from him, then sank to a slumped position. He was starting to drift away when the door opened again. He looked up and saw a woman in her mid-thirties.
"What do you want with me?"
She walked over to the fallen food, ignoring him. Turning back around, she shook her head and said, "What a waste."
Gabriel was beginning to get annoyed. "This is a waste of time. Why don't you just let me go?"
She looked at him, then walked out. A moment later, another man came in. He picked up the over turned plate, walked out, then returned. He walked over to Gabriel and stood there.

Gabriel wrapped his legs, which were unrestrained, around one of the man's legs and tried to knock him off balance. The man just pulled his leg out of the way and laughed. He swung his foot forward, catching Gabriel in the stomach.
He would have doubled over in pain had he been able to. The man landed some more blows to the same spot, then walked away, leaving him there gasping in pain.
*******
Renee walked into her apartment and saw the light on her answering machine was blinking. She walked over to it and hoping it was Gabriel, hit the play button. "We have your boyfriend. If you do what we want, he'll be fine. However, if you don't . . . "
She heard the click of a phone hanging up. Her hands were trembling uncontrollably and her face was white. She walked on shaky legs over to the couch and sank down on it.
After a couple of minutes of staring at the wall, she stood up and walked outside. Walking toward the precinct, she refused to let herself think about what had happened. When she arrived, she asked for sara, but no one knew where she was.

Renee saw captain Richards step out of his office and walked over to him. "Hello Miss Mackenzie. What can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to Sara. It's really important. Is she here?"
He shook his head. "her and jake went out to investigate a case. I don't know when they'll be back. Can I help you?"
"I don't know." She looked like she was going to burst into tears.
"Well, come into my office and I'll see if I can."
She nodded her head and followed him inside. Once they were seated, he asked, "Now, what's the problem?"
She hesitated for a moment, then told him everything. When she was finished, he sat there thinking, then said, "you think these people have him. Why would they take him?"
"I don't know, sir. If they didn't, then he went after them and he promised me he wouldn't."

He nodded his head. "Pezzeni and McCarty are probably out looking for him. So you should go home. They'll call you as soon as they find him."
She nodded her head, then turned around and left. But she didn't go home. She couldn't just sit around and wait while these people were using him to get at her. She caught a taxi and gave the driver directions to the stable. When they arrived, she paid him and started to walk up the drive.
*******
Sara and Jake walked into the main office of the stable and saw a woman sitting at a desk. She turned around and Sara guessed that she was in her mid-thirties. "What can I help you two with?" She asked politely.
"We got a call that someone we're looking for was seen here," Sara lied. "If we could look around, we'd be grateful."
"Sure, detectives. But I can assure you that you won't find anything. But feel free to look."
Sara thanked her, then she and Jake walked through the numerous barns, looking for Gabriel. After walking through the last one, she sighed in frustration. "Nothing. And this is the last place. What will we do now, Jake?"

"We'll find him, Pez. Don't worry."
They got in the car and drove away. Once they were out of sight, the woman turned and called to a man standing behind her. He walked up to her and she said, "They're gone. Put him back where he was."
He left and when she looked outside a few minutes later, she saw him and another man dragging Gabriel back into a barn. They threw him to the floor of the stall and he slowly got to his feet. The larger man stepped forward and hit him in the stomach. He fell to the ground, but quickly rose again.
"Don't you know how to stay down, boy?"
He just glared at them.
"He's not too smart," the other one said.
Gabriel took a step forward and hit him across the jaw before they realized what he was doing. The man took a step backwards, stunned. Then he stepped behind Gabriel, grabbed his arms, and held them tight. He tried to slip from his grasp, but was unable to do so.

He stood up straight and looked the larger man right in the eyes. he moved in and delivered blow after blow to gabriel's midsection. He didn't stop until gabriel was doubled nearly in half with pain. The man who was restraining him let him fall to the straw-covered floor.
Then he walked in front of him and kicked him in the stomach. He kicked him again, then walked away laughing. The two men left, sliding the door shut and locking it behind them.
Gabriel rolled over on his back and flames of pain shot through him. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, but it didn't diminish the pain. They had left his arms unrestrained, but he found it impossible to even sit up.
His thoughts wandered through the pain and found their way to Renee. He remembered the way her hair fell around her face when she wore it down. The way her face brightened whenever she saw him. How she felt in his arms. He drifted off into the darkness, his last concious thought of Renee.
*******

Jake stopped the car when he saw Renee walking toward them. Sara rolled down the window and asked sharply, "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't just sit at home. I had to do something."
"Well, get in the car. We all ready checked this place out and he's not here."
She stepped into the car and Sara said gently, "Don't worry, Renee. We'll find him. I promise you we will."