Okay I know that all of this changing the censure is getting annoying, but
after reading over part 3 again I happened to agree with the people who
said that I didn't need to be NC-17. If you think it should be…..so sorry.
Please review. The epilogue is ready and will be up very soon. The more
reviews I get the sooner you'll get it. Hehe, aren't I evil? Hope you like
it.
Part 4: Back to Life
Through the comfort of the soft mattress and the soothing sound of rain drops on the roof, Ross was barely aware of the fact that he was being shaken, and his name was being called.
Rachel sighed in frustration as Ross rolled over onto his stomach and fell asleep again. 'He's not getting out of this so easy!' she thought to herself, the scooted over toward him and laid on top of his back. "Rooooooss" she purred, as she stroked his arm and nibbled on his ear.
'Evil woman!' Ross thought to himself. He knew there was no way he could ignore her and go back to sleep while she was doing that, no matter how tired he was.....and she knew it too. He groaned and then answered, "Yeah?"
"It's raining," Rachel whispered sweetly.
He turned his head around to stare at her, "You woke me up to tell me THAT?! UGH! Remind me why in god's name I married you again?"
"Because I'm irresistible!" Rachel said primly and moved back over to her side of the bed, "You forgot didn't you?"
"Forgot what?" Ross asked, fully awake now.
"The bet," Rachel said looking very pleased with herself.
"What bet?" He asked.
"Remember on last night when Singin' In The Rain was on tv, and you said that if it rained today you'd dance in the rain just like them?" Rachel said.
Ross looked at her, "Was I a little drunk last night?"
She snickered, "A little? I think that's the understatement of the year!"
He glared at her then sighed again, "You're not serious are you?"
"You bet your ass I am!!!" She exclaimed, "Just because we're married doesn't mean I'm going to pass up a perfect opportunity to rub it in your face that you made an ass of yourself!"
Ross groaned and then flung the sheets back and headed toward the door.
"Hey wait! Aren't you going to up some clothes on?" Rachel called after him.
"If I put clothes on they'll just get wet!" He yelled back. Rachel's jaw dropped. Ross Geller was going to dance outside in the rain.....naked?!?!?! 'This I have to see!' Rachel thought to herself as she got out of bed and followed Ross, grabbing an afghan off the back of the sofa to cover herself with since she wasn't wearing any clothes either.
"Well here you go," Ross yelled and went down the front porch steps and began dancing around like a lunatic.
"Oh my god!" Rachel said, struggling not to laugh, "Ross come inside! What if the neighbors see you?"
"There are no neighbors Rach," He reminded her.
"Oh........right," She said, watched him for a minute, then shook her head, "You know something sweetie? I think you're still a little drunk."
"Hey!" Ross yelled in mock offense, "Just for that you have to come dance with me!"
"WHAT?! No way!" Rachel yelled. Ross ran up onto the porch and grabbed her hand, "Hey wait! Ross! No! No!!" She yelled as he dragged her down the steps, dumping the afghan into a puddle on the way.
"Ross!" She yelled, and ripped her hand out of his once they were in them middle of the yard, "You just ruined my afghan!"
"So what? Come on dance." He said and took her hand.
"NO!" Rachel snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come on! Don't be so uptight!" Ross taunted.
"Uptight?!" Rachel screeched, "YOU are calling me up tight? That's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard."
"Hey who's the one that's trying to cover them self here?" Ross asked.
Rachel looked down at her arms, and then sighed, "I cannot believe I'm doing this!" She flung her arms out above her had and twirled around in a fashion that reminded Ross of their friend Phoebe.
"There! Are you happy?" Rache asked.
"Very" he said and took Rachel's hand, pulled her closer to him and began to slow dance.
Rachel laughed, "You know this looks kinda like new age porno film."
"Yeah......or a romantic movie set in a nudist colony," Ross suggested. They laughed together, then Ross stared at her for a minute before leaning down to kiss her rosy lips, which tasted of rain water and something that was uniquely Rachel.
Rachel kissed him back, and marveled at how something that, to any one else, would seem stupid or perverted was simply loving and tender for them.
***************
Though Ross and Rachel may have felt like in that moment they were the only people in the world, they were not a pair of eyes watched the scene from afar through binoculars. A sinister smile played on her lips as she sat in wait like a predator........soon to strike.
***************
Rachel's eyes snapped open as cold chill raced through her bones. She took a few deep breaths and then seemed to regain her sense of mind. 'Probably was just a nightmare' she thought to herself, and settled back down. The rain from earlier had stopped, leaving a cool but humid feeling that refused to let her hair fully dry. Rachel looked over at Ross, he certainly was getting into this. He was wearing kaki pants and a white shirt that he had left unbuttoned. 'Oh well......I'm one to talk,' she though at she looked at her own kaki shorts and small t-shirt, and the fact that they were both napping in a hammock. Rachel laughed to herself, they had found it in a closet awhile ago and decided to hang it up just for fun. Since the night when they finally worked out the problems they had been having, they had been better than they had in a long time. She still worried that maybe it wouldn't last once they had to go back to the real world, but for now she was happy to just go along with it.
Rachel cuddled closer to him, and whispered "Good morning"
"Mmmm.....good afternoon is more like it," Ross said as he checked his watch.
"So......what do we do now?" Rachel asked.
"Well I guess we could use some lunch," He said.
"Yeah, that's a great idea why don't you go make some?" She said.
"No way! It's your turn!" He said.
"No it's not!" Rachel protested.
"Yes it is!" Ross insisted.
"Here paper, rock, scissors?" She offered.
"Okay, fine!" Ross said. They did paper, rock, scissors, Rachel got rock, Ross got scissors.
"Ha!" She gloated.
"Two out of three!" Ross said.
"Noooooo! You lost! Now get your fine ass in there make my lunch!" Rachel said.
"Brat!" Ross said, as he headed toward the front door.
"Ehhh just shut up! And please don't make macaroni and cheese again! You already did three times this week." She said, and settled back down for a few more winks before lunch.
**********
Detective Kensington put the phone back on the receiver and turned around.
"Well I just got off the phone with the DA's office. The trial date has been set on the Soldi case, but they haven't been able to contact the Geller's so they want us to look into it.," She said, "I have tons of paper work to get done, do you think you could handle this?"
"Yeah sure, no problem," Detective Randall said.
**********
Christina crawled out of her sleeping bag, which provided more comfort then the carpet of the van which served as her only home for the moment. She opened her thermos and poured a cup of coffee. She always hated how groggy she felt after sleeping in the middle of the day, but she knew that she needed to be extra alert tonight. She could not afford to get sloppy, one mistake could be fatal for her. The sudden realization of what she was planning sent a shiver up her spine and made her feel sick to her to her stomach. She firmly shook it away. 'No! I've come this far......I'm not going to give up now. If I don't go through with this my life never be safe again! It's the only way.' She told herself.
**********
The look on Detective Randall's face immediately showed that something was horribly wrong.
"Patrick?" Detective Kensington asked, as he came back into their office, "What's the matter?"
"I went over to the Geller's apartment, but they weren't home. So I tried to go see Mrs. Geller at Ralph Lauren, they told me that she'd taken a leave of absence a couple months ago and they haven't heard from her since." He explained.
Detective Kensington stared at her partner for a minute, "And Dr. Geller?"
"I already checked with his office, he took a leave of absence too." Detective Randal said.
"What are you thinking?" She asked.
"I'm not sure.....although it could be that they went off somewhere. Possibly to try to elude Christina." He said.
"Yeah.....yeah maybe." She agreed, "Well we'll going to have to find them so that they can give testimony."
"Think we could let their lawyer take care of that?" Detective Randall asked.
Detective Kensington asked, "Probably......but what are the chances of them ever being found if we do?" They laughed for a couple seconds, before a young uniform officer ran into the office.
"I think we may have a break on the Geller stalking case," The flushed young man said quickly.
********
The man in the interrogation room looked like someone you would imagine to be driving a cab, greasy black hair, beer gut, and a faded tank top.
"We got a tip from a witness who saw Christina Healy's picture on the news, they said they saw her in this guy's pawn shop. We'd raided that pawn shop before......he's known for selling crack, illegal weapons, you name it," the man explained.
The two detectives looked at each other, then went into the room.
"Your name James Coyne?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah that's me? Listen what is this crap all about?" he asked in a, not surprisingly, heavy Bronx accent.
"Do you remember seeing this woman in your store?" Detective Kensington asked, showing him a picture of Christina.
"Nope," He answered barely glancing at the photo.
"Oh yeah?" Detective Kensington said, "What would you say if I told you was wanted for aggravated assault? And there's someone that we think she maybe after?"
"Not my problem," James Coyne said with a roll of his eyes.
"You're already on rocky terms with the law aren't you Mr. Coyne?" Detective Randall said, flipping through his file "Couple of drug convictions I see.........stolen guns too. What if she gets to these people?"
"If you with hold information, and she does something to them you may be considered an accessory," Detective Kensington said and gave him a minute to contemplate this, "Wanna take another look at this picture?"
He took the picture and looked at it then said, "She bought a gun from me a couple months ago. She said she was in a hurry so she gave me an extra $500 to forgo the background check and waiting period."
"Did she say anything else?" Detective Kensington asked.
"No," He said in an impatient tone.
"You're sure it was this woman?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah I'm sure!" He huffed.
Detective Kensington nodded, "Thank you Mr. Coyne."
**************
"Well at least now we know that Christina probably does have harmful intentions against Ross and Rachel Geller." Detective Kensington said once the were out in the hall.
"Still don't have proof of that though, "Detective Randall said.
"She's seen buying a gun around the same time Ross and Rachel disappear?" She asked.
"Could be coincidence, but probably not. It would be better if we notified the Gellers," He agreed.
"But we don't know where they are." Detective Kensington said.
"That is our problem....." He stated the obvious.
"So? Do we ask around with their friends? See if they told anyone where they went?" She inquired.
"Sounds good to me," Detective Randall said and sat down at his desk, getting right to work.
************
Brian Knowles climbed to the top of the hill and then took a minute to steady himself, then wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his sleeve. It would be sundown soon, and he was eager to get back to the station so that he could go home. He started on, but caught sight of the white van through the clearing to his right.
'Probably some teenagers looking for lover's lane' he thought to himself as he went over, took out his flashlight, and shined it through the window. 'No one....that's odd. On well, probably was abandoned here.' He thought and took out his walkie talkie, and radioed back to the station.
************
"Okay thank you anyway," Detective Kensington said, hung up the phone and then rubbed her eyes, "Well that's everyone on my list. No one knows anything. What about you any luck?"
"Nope." Detective Randall said looking as tired and frustrated as she felt
She sighed, "We went through all the friends and family known of right? Did we get everyone?"
"Well....there is Ross Geller's sister. I called three times, but no one answered, however she lives in New Jersey. Feel like going on a little drive? He asked.
"Sure. Why not?" She nodded.
*************
Monica paced back an forth across her living room, while Chandler sat on the sofa with their 18 month old son Nathaniel squirming on his lap.
"I don't understand!" Monica screeched, "Why are you looking for my brother? There is no way he could be in trouble with the law! The only time he ever got a traffic ticket was for driving too slow!"
"We believe that your brother may be in danger." Detective Kensington explained.
"Wha-, what are you talking about?" Monica asked.
"Were you aware, ma'am, that your sister in law was raped?" She asked.
"What?!" Chandler and Monica exclaimed in unison.
"She was........raped?" Monica asked in disbelief.
"Yes, we believe that she had been stalked for some time by her assailant Giacomo Soldi, and we believe that he may have had an accomplice." They explained and gave them a photo of Christina.
"Chirstina?!?!?!" Monica gasped.
"You know this woman?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah....she works with Rachel. She came here a while ago......." Monica started then swallowed against the huge lump that was developing in her throat, "Oh my god! I........I sent her to them." She said and started to tear up, Chandler put Nathaniel down. He tried to comfort Monica for a moment, then looked at the two detectives who were waiting patiently for their explanation.
"She came here a while ago, she said that she worked with Rachel but she'd gone on vacation and had something needed for work. So she came to us to get the address like Rachel had told her to do." Chandler said.
"It's all my fault....." Monica said guiltily.
"You had no way of knowing what was going on, but we really need to know what you told her." Detective Kensington said softly.
"My family had this cabin upstate.....Ross and I went there a couple times as kids. It's near this place called Cooperstown." Monica said.
"Thank you very much!" They said, and where back in their car heading toward New York with in an instant.
**************
Rachel yawned as she turned off the bathroom light then turned toward the direction of the bedroom in the darkness. A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, she managed to get a soft gasp out before they clamped their hand firmly over her mouth and dragged her back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind them.
Ross sat up and looked around, he'd heard the door slam and what sounded a little a scream. He made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"Rachel?" He said, the knocked again, "Rach?"
"Don't say anything stupid," Chirstina whispered into Rachel's ear inside the bathroom. Then slowly removed her hand from over her mouth and jabbed what was without a doubt a gun barrel into her kidney.
"Yeah I'm in here," Rachel called.
"Are you okay?" Ross said through the door.
"Umm yeah, I'm fine," She said, her voice shaking.
"Are you sure?" He asked again.
"Yeah! I'm fine Ross. Just go back to bed, I'll be there in a minute." Rachel said.
"Okay," Ross said. The two women listened in a tense silence as his footsteps faded away.
Christina let out an audible sigh of relief, then said to Rachel, "Good job, now come on we're going to go toward the living room. Keep your mouth shut!!!"
They started slowly toward the living room, with Christina keeping a firm grip on the back of Rachel's robe the entire way. As they were almost there light flooded the hallway.
"Hey Rach-" Ross began as he walked out of the bedroom then froze in his tracks, "What the hell?!?!"
Christina shoved Rachel into the living room, then slammed the door and locked it behind her.
"Rachel?!?!?! RACHEL!!!!!!" Ross yelled from the other side and pounded furiously at the door.
Christina leaned against the door for a second, whirled around just in time to point her gun at Rachel, who was running back from the kitchen with a large frying pan in her hand.
"Drop it!" She yelled. Rachel complied after a moment,
"Good, now come over here." Christina instructed, Rachel slowly came over, Christina took some rope out of her vest and tied Rachel's hands behind her back.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this." Christina said in a deadpan voice, "You have no idea how lucky you are. He may not be perfect.......but he would never hurt anyone. Getting him is out now, that idiot Giacomo ruined everything, and....I can't go to jail like him. I can't let that happen."
"What are doing?!" Rachel said without thinking, "What do you think this is a James Patterson novel? Things like this do not happen in real life!!!!!"
Christina narrowed her eyes, then pushed Rachel down onto the sofa. "They do now!" She said, and looked at the door which Ross was still desperately trying to break down.
"Hmm.......maybe this thing will come in handy after all." She said and picked up the frying pan that Rachel had dropped, and hid behind the door. Ross threw himself hard against it a couple more times, before it burst open. He barely had time to think before he was hit hard from behind and fell over unconscious.
**********
"Yeah," the chief of the Cooperstown police department said into the phone, "a park ranger found an abandoned van in the woods today. It was registered to a Christina Healy. Hold on just a second-"
"Okay" Detective Randall said.
"Uhh.....Detective you still there?" the chief said after a minute.
"Yeah" Detective Randall said.
"We found bullets for a 9mm Baretta in the abandoned van." He said.
"Thank you very much, sir" Detective Randall said, "Do you think you could send some men to this address." He asked and read off the address that Monica had provided them with.
************
Ross's head pounded like a thousand drums, when his eyes cleared the first thing he saw was the gray fabric of his sweat pants and t-shirt. He slowly became aware of Rachel sitting on the sofa to his right, and that he was sitting in a chair, which Christina was tying him to.
'Just in time' she thought to herself, then picked up her gun and slid in a new magazine.
"I never meant for it to go this far, but I have to do this," Christina said to Ross then looked at him for a moment. She swallowed, true she was no longer in love with him, but still the thought of actually killing another human being made her scared.
Meanwhile Rachel had managed to untie the rope that held her hands behind her back, she lifted up one had for Ross to see while Christina's back was turned, then quickly put it behind her so that she wouldn't notice.
Christina took a deep breath and turned to face Rachel. 'Her first that will be better.' She thought. After another deep breath she reached for the trigger. However before she could shoot Ross lifted his legs, which were not tied, and kicked her will all of his might. Instantly Rachel sprang up from the sofa, and rushed at Christina. The two feel to the floor, Christina's gun flew out her hand and across the room. Rachel delivered a hard punch to her left eye. Christina fought back and managed to get her on the side of her head. The blow stunned Rachel for a moment as she tried to get up off the floor.
"Rachel look out!" Ross yelled, and Rachel turned just in time to avoid another punch. Ross struggled hard at the ropes that held him to the chair. This was no simple cat fight, it was an all out life or death clash. Rachel got Christina pinned down for a moment. She managed to get her leg up underneath Rachel's body and flung her off. She leapt up and gabbed her gun off the floor. She stood above Rachel and aimed it strait for her head.
"NOOOOO!!!" Ross yelled.
BANG!!!!!!!!
Part 4: Back to Life
Through the comfort of the soft mattress and the soothing sound of rain drops on the roof, Ross was barely aware of the fact that he was being shaken, and his name was being called.
Rachel sighed in frustration as Ross rolled over onto his stomach and fell asleep again. 'He's not getting out of this so easy!' she thought to herself, the scooted over toward him and laid on top of his back. "Rooooooss" she purred, as she stroked his arm and nibbled on his ear.
'Evil woman!' Ross thought to himself. He knew there was no way he could ignore her and go back to sleep while she was doing that, no matter how tired he was.....and she knew it too. He groaned and then answered, "Yeah?"
"It's raining," Rachel whispered sweetly.
He turned his head around to stare at her, "You woke me up to tell me THAT?! UGH! Remind me why in god's name I married you again?"
"Because I'm irresistible!" Rachel said primly and moved back over to her side of the bed, "You forgot didn't you?"
"Forgot what?" Ross asked, fully awake now.
"The bet," Rachel said looking very pleased with herself.
"What bet?" He asked.
"Remember on last night when Singin' In The Rain was on tv, and you said that if it rained today you'd dance in the rain just like them?" Rachel said.
Ross looked at her, "Was I a little drunk last night?"
She snickered, "A little? I think that's the understatement of the year!"
He glared at her then sighed again, "You're not serious are you?"
"You bet your ass I am!!!" She exclaimed, "Just because we're married doesn't mean I'm going to pass up a perfect opportunity to rub it in your face that you made an ass of yourself!"
Ross groaned and then flung the sheets back and headed toward the door.
"Hey wait! Aren't you going to up some clothes on?" Rachel called after him.
"If I put clothes on they'll just get wet!" He yelled back. Rachel's jaw dropped. Ross Geller was going to dance outside in the rain.....naked?!?!?! 'This I have to see!' Rachel thought to herself as she got out of bed and followed Ross, grabbing an afghan off the back of the sofa to cover herself with since she wasn't wearing any clothes either.
"Well here you go," Ross yelled and went down the front porch steps and began dancing around like a lunatic.
"Oh my god!" Rachel said, struggling not to laugh, "Ross come inside! What if the neighbors see you?"
"There are no neighbors Rach," He reminded her.
"Oh........right," She said, watched him for a minute, then shook her head, "You know something sweetie? I think you're still a little drunk."
"Hey!" Ross yelled in mock offense, "Just for that you have to come dance with me!"
"WHAT?! No way!" Rachel yelled. Ross ran up onto the porch and grabbed her hand, "Hey wait! Ross! No! No!!" She yelled as he dragged her down the steps, dumping the afghan into a puddle on the way.
"Ross!" She yelled, and ripped her hand out of his once they were in them middle of the yard, "You just ruined my afghan!"
"So what? Come on dance." He said and took her hand.
"NO!" Rachel snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come on! Don't be so uptight!" Ross taunted.
"Uptight?!" Rachel screeched, "YOU are calling me up tight? That's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard."
"Hey who's the one that's trying to cover them self here?" Ross asked.
Rachel looked down at her arms, and then sighed, "I cannot believe I'm doing this!" She flung her arms out above her had and twirled around in a fashion that reminded Ross of their friend Phoebe.
"There! Are you happy?" Rache asked.
"Very" he said and took Rachel's hand, pulled her closer to him and began to slow dance.
Rachel laughed, "You know this looks kinda like new age porno film."
"Yeah......or a romantic movie set in a nudist colony," Ross suggested. They laughed together, then Ross stared at her for a minute before leaning down to kiss her rosy lips, which tasted of rain water and something that was uniquely Rachel.
Rachel kissed him back, and marveled at how something that, to any one else, would seem stupid or perverted was simply loving and tender for them.
***************
Though Ross and Rachel may have felt like in that moment they were the only people in the world, they were not a pair of eyes watched the scene from afar through binoculars. A sinister smile played on her lips as she sat in wait like a predator........soon to strike.
***************
Rachel's eyes snapped open as cold chill raced through her bones. She took a few deep breaths and then seemed to regain her sense of mind. 'Probably was just a nightmare' she thought to herself, and settled back down. The rain from earlier had stopped, leaving a cool but humid feeling that refused to let her hair fully dry. Rachel looked over at Ross, he certainly was getting into this. He was wearing kaki pants and a white shirt that he had left unbuttoned. 'Oh well......I'm one to talk,' she though at she looked at her own kaki shorts and small t-shirt, and the fact that they were both napping in a hammock. Rachel laughed to herself, they had found it in a closet awhile ago and decided to hang it up just for fun. Since the night when they finally worked out the problems they had been having, they had been better than they had in a long time. She still worried that maybe it wouldn't last once they had to go back to the real world, but for now she was happy to just go along with it.
Rachel cuddled closer to him, and whispered "Good morning"
"Mmmm.....good afternoon is more like it," Ross said as he checked his watch.
"So......what do we do now?" Rachel asked.
"Well I guess we could use some lunch," He said.
"Yeah, that's a great idea why don't you go make some?" She said.
"No way! It's your turn!" He said.
"No it's not!" Rachel protested.
"Yes it is!" Ross insisted.
"Here paper, rock, scissors?" She offered.
"Okay, fine!" Ross said. They did paper, rock, scissors, Rachel got rock, Ross got scissors.
"Ha!" She gloated.
"Two out of three!" Ross said.
"Noooooo! You lost! Now get your fine ass in there make my lunch!" Rachel said.
"Brat!" Ross said, as he headed toward the front door.
"Ehhh just shut up! And please don't make macaroni and cheese again! You already did three times this week." She said, and settled back down for a few more winks before lunch.
**********
Detective Kensington put the phone back on the receiver and turned around.
"Well I just got off the phone with the DA's office. The trial date has been set on the Soldi case, but they haven't been able to contact the Geller's so they want us to look into it.," She said, "I have tons of paper work to get done, do you think you could handle this?"
"Yeah sure, no problem," Detective Randall said.
**********
Christina crawled out of her sleeping bag, which provided more comfort then the carpet of the van which served as her only home for the moment. She opened her thermos and poured a cup of coffee. She always hated how groggy she felt after sleeping in the middle of the day, but she knew that she needed to be extra alert tonight. She could not afford to get sloppy, one mistake could be fatal for her. The sudden realization of what she was planning sent a shiver up her spine and made her feel sick to her to her stomach. She firmly shook it away. 'No! I've come this far......I'm not going to give up now. If I don't go through with this my life never be safe again! It's the only way.' She told herself.
**********
The look on Detective Randall's face immediately showed that something was horribly wrong.
"Patrick?" Detective Kensington asked, as he came back into their office, "What's the matter?"
"I went over to the Geller's apartment, but they weren't home. So I tried to go see Mrs. Geller at Ralph Lauren, they told me that she'd taken a leave of absence a couple months ago and they haven't heard from her since." He explained.
Detective Kensington stared at her partner for a minute, "And Dr. Geller?"
"I already checked with his office, he took a leave of absence too." Detective Randal said.
"What are you thinking?" She asked.
"I'm not sure.....although it could be that they went off somewhere. Possibly to try to elude Christina." He said.
"Yeah.....yeah maybe." She agreed, "Well we'll going to have to find them so that they can give testimony."
"Think we could let their lawyer take care of that?" Detective Randall asked.
Detective Kensington asked, "Probably......but what are the chances of them ever being found if we do?" They laughed for a couple seconds, before a young uniform officer ran into the office.
"I think we may have a break on the Geller stalking case," The flushed young man said quickly.
********
The man in the interrogation room looked like someone you would imagine to be driving a cab, greasy black hair, beer gut, and a faded tank top.
"We got a tip from a witness who saw Christina Healy's picture on the news, they said they saw her in this guy's pawn shop. We'd raided that pawn shop before......he's known for selling crack, illegal weapons, you name it," the man explained.
The two detectives looked at each other, then went into the room.
"Your name James Coyne?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah that's me? Listen what is this crap all about?" he asked in a, not surprisingly, heavy Bronx accent.
"Do you remember seeing this woman in your store?" Detective Kensington asked, showing him a picture of Christina.
"Nope," He answered barely glancing at the photo.
"Oh yeah?" Detective Kensington said, "What would you say if I told you was wanted for aggravated assault? And there's someone that we think she maybe after?"
"Not my problem," James Coyne said with a roll of his eyes.
"You're already on rocky terms with the law aren't you Mr. Coyne?" Detective Randall said, flipping through his file "Couple of drug convictions I see.........stolen guns too. What if she gets to these people?"
"If you with hold information, and she does something to them you may be considered an accessory," Detective Kensington said and gave him a minute to contemplate this, "Wanna take another look at this picture?"
He took the picture and looked at it then said, "She bought a gun from me a couple months ago. She said she was in a hurry so she gave me an extra $500 to forgo the background check and waiting period."
"Did she say anything else?" Detective Kensington asked.
"No," He said in an impatient tone.
"You're sure it was this woman?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah I'm sure!" He huffed.
Detective Kensington nodded, "Thank you Mr. Coyne."
**************
"Well at least now we know that Christina probably does have harmful intentions against Ross and Rachel Geller." Detective Kensington said once the were out in the hall.
"Still don't have proof of that though, "Detective Randall said.
"She's seen buying a gun around the same time Ross and Rachel disappear?" She asked.
"Could be coincidence, but probably not. It would be better if we notified the Gellers," He agreed.
"But we don't know where they are." Detective Kensington said.
"That is our problem....." He stated the obvious.
"So? Do we ask around with their friends? See if they told anyone where they went?" She inquired.
"Sounds good to me," Detective Randall said and sat down at his desk, getting right to work.
************
Brian Knowles climbed to the top of the hill and then took a minute to steady himself, then wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his sleeve. It would be sundown soon, and he was eager to get back to the station so that he could go home. He started on, but caught sight of the white van through the clearing to his right.
'Probably some teenagers looking for lover's lane' he thought to himself as he went over, took out his flashlight, and shined it through the window. 'No one....that's odd. On well, probably was abandoned here.' He thought and took out his walkie talkie, and radioed back to the station.
************
"Okay thank you anyway," Detective Kensington said, hung up the phone and then rubbed her eyes, "Well that's everyone on my list. No one knows anything. What about you any luck?"
"Nope." Detective Randall said looking as tired and frustrated as she felt
She sighed, "We went through all the friends and family known of right? Did we get everyone?"
"Well....there is Ross Geller's sister. I called three times, but no one answered, however she lives in New Jersey. Feel like going on a little drive? He asked.
"Sure. Why not?" She nodded.
*************
Monica paced back an forth across her living room, while Chandler sat on the sofa with their 18 month old son Nathaniel squirming on his lap.
"I don't understand!" Monica screeched, "Why are you looking for my brother? There is no way he could be in trouble with the law! The only time he ever got a traffic ticket was for driving too slow!"
"We believe that your brother may be in danger." Detective Kensington explained.
"Wha-, what are you talking about?" Monica asked.
"Were you aware, ma'am, that your sister in law was raped?" She asked.
"What?!" Chandler and Monica exclaimed in unison.
"She was........raped?" Monica asked in disbelief.
"Yes, we believe that she had been stalked for some time by her assailant Giacomo Soldi, and we believe that he may have had an accomplice." They explained and gave them a photo of Christina.
"Chirstina?!?!?!" Monica gasped.
"You know this woman?" Detective Randall asked.
"Yeah....she works with Rachel. She came here a while ago......." Monica started then swallowed against the huge lump that was developing in her throat, "Oh my god! I........I sent her to them." She said and started to tear up, Chandler put Nathaniel down. He tried to comfort Monica for a moment, then looked at the two detectives who were waiting patiently for their explanation.
"She came here a while ago, she said that she worked with Rachel but she'd gone on vacation and had something needed for work. So she came to us to get the address like Rachel had told her to do." Chandler said.
"It's all my fault....." Monica said guiltily.
"You had no way of knowing what was going on, but we really need to know what you told her." Detective Kensington said softly.
"My family had this cabin upstate.....Ross and I went there a couple times as kids. It's near this place called Cooperstown." Monica said.
"Thank you very much!" They said, and where back in their car heading toward New York with in an instant.
**************
Rachel yawned as she turned off the bathroom light then turned toward the direction of the bedroom in the darkness. A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, she managed to get a soft gasp out before they clamped their hand firmly over her mouth and dragged her back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind them.
Ross sat up and looked around, he'd heard the door slam and what sounded a little a scream. He made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"Rachel?" He said, the knocked again, "Rach?"
"Don't say anything stupid," Chirstina whispered into Rachel's ear inside the bathroom. Then slowly removed her hand from over her mouth and jabbed what was without a doubt a gun barrel into her kidney.
"Yeah I'm in here," Rachel called.
"Are you okay?" Ross said through the door.
"Umm yeah, I'm fine," She said, her voice shaking.
"Are you sure?" He asked again.
"Yeah! I'm fine Ross. Just go back to bed, I'll be there in a minute." Rachel said.
"Okay," Ross said. The two women listened in a tense silence as his footsteps faded away.
Christina let out an audible sigh of relief, then said to Rachel, "Good job, now come on we're going to go toward the living room. Keep your mouth shut!!!"
They started slowly toward the living room, with Christina keeping a firm grip on the back of Rachel's robe the entire way. As they were almost there light flooded the hallway.
"Hey Rach-" Ross began as he walked out of the bedroom then froze in his tracks, "What the hell?!?!"
Christina shoved Rachel into the living room, then slammed the door and locked it behind her.
"Rachel?!?!?! RACHEL!!!!!!" Ross yelled from the other side and pounded furiously at the door.
Christina leaned against the door for a second, whirled around just in time to point her gun at Rachel, who was running back from the kitchen with a large frying pan in her hand.
"Drop it!" She yelled. Rachel complied after a moment,
"Good, now come over here." Christina instructed, Rachel slowly came over, Christina took some rope out of her vest and tied Rachel's hands behind her back.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this." Christina said in a deadpan voice, "You have no idea how lucky you are. He may not be perfect.......but he would never hurt anyone. Getting him is out now, that idiot Giacomo ruined everything, and....I can't go to jail like him. I can't let that happen."
"What are doing?!" Rachel said without thinking, "What do you think this is a James Patterson novel? Things like this do not happen in real life!!!!!"
Christina narrowed her eyes, then pushed Rachel down onto the sofa. "They do now!" She said, and looked at the door which Ross was still desperately trying to break down.
"Hmm.......maybe this thing will come in handy after all." She said and picked up the frying pan that Rachel had dropped, and hid behind the door. Ross threw himself hard against it a couple more times, before it burst open. He barely had time to think before he was hit hard from behind and fell over unconscious.
**********
"Yeah," the chief of the Cooperstown police department said into the phone, "a park ranger found an abandoned van in the woods today. It was registered to a Christina Healy. Hold on just a second-"
"Okay" Detective Randall said.
"Uhh.....Detective you still there?" the chief said after a minute.
"Yeah" Detective Randall said.
"We found bullets for a 9mm Baretta in the abandoned van." He said.
"Thank you very much, sir" Detective Randall said, "Do you think you could send some men to this address." He asked and read off the address that Monica had provided them with.
************
Ross's head pounded like a thousand drums, when his eyes cleared the first thing he saw was the gray fabric of his sweat pants and t-shirt. He slowly became aware of Rachel sitting on the sofa to his right, and that he was sitting in a chair, which Christina was tying him to.
'Just in time' she thought to herself, then picked up her gun and slid in a new magazine.
"I never meant for it to go this far, but I have to do this," Christina said to Ross then looked at him for a moment. She swallowed, true she was no longer in love with him, but still the thought of actually killing another human being made her scared.
Meanwhile Rachel had managed to untie the rope that held her hands behind her back, she lifted up one had for Ross to see while Christina's back was turned, then quickly put it behind her so that she wouldn't notice.
Christina took a deep breath and turned to face Rachel. 'Her first that will be better.' She thought. After another deep breath she reached for the trigger. However before she could shoot Ross lifted his legs, which were not tied, and kicked her will all of his might. Instantly Rachel sprang up from the sofa, and rushed at Christina. The two feel to the floor, Christina's gun flew out her hand and across the room. Rachel delivered a hard punch to her left eye. Christina fought back and managed to get her on the side of her head. The blow stunned Rachel for a moment as she tried to get up off the floor.
"Rachel look out!" Ross yelled, and Rachel turned just in time to avoid another punch. Ross struggled hard at the ropes that held him to the chair. This was no simple cat fight, it was an all out life or death clash. Rachel got Christina pinned down for a moment. She managed to get her leg up underneath Rachel's body and flung her off. She leapt up and gabbed her gun off the floor. She stood above Rachel and aimed it strait for her head.
"NOOOOO!!!" Ross yelled.
BANG!!!!!!!!
