"Do not move or I'll shoot you, detective. You're pretty resourceful… but I can always kill you and then make my escape. I have a knack for becoming someone else."
Joe froze as he felt the barrel of a gun pressing against his back. A normal, male human voice spoke to him and even though he had never heard it before, he knew who it was. Any idiot would.
"What do you want?" Joe darted his eyes furtively around. Nobody was near him and even if he screamed for help, it wouldn't come faster than the shot.
"Nothing. Just follow me and smile like we're friends. Don't you want to meet your daughter?"
"Where is she?" He hissed, wanting to turn around immediately and take a good look at the guy. He didn't need to though for the man stepped out beside him and draped an arm across his shoulder forcefully with gargantuan strength. The gun still threatened his back but it was camouflaged by the bodies. He looked straight at the man with furious, seething eyes only to meet with cold, impassionate ones.
"If you want to save her, then obey. Your partner is coming back, the moment he comes out, I'll shoot you and you'll be dead. Then I'll shoot myself and no one will ever know where the girls are. Without food and water, they will die eventually… die in hunger pangs, thirst and all alone."
Realizing he had no choice, Joe gritted his teeth and did as he was told. When they reached the man's car, the man suddenly shoved him in front and slammed his forehead against the car frame. Joe cursed himself for being caught off guard as something wet trickled down and stung his eyes, smelling like rust.
Blood.
He was the roughly spun around. Flailing fists vainly tried to inflict damage on his captor and his efforts were further thwarted by double visions.
The last he heard before the butt of the gun clipped the side of his screaming head was a mirthless chuckle like a man mildly amused and then, disgusted, by his ineffectual attempts at resistance.
***
Joe woke up to find his hands bounded tightly behind his back and his feet tied securely together at the ankles. The sight of an unfurnished room flickering under the feeble watch of a weary light bulb filled his bleary sight but, as he got accustomed to consciousness, so did his vision sharpened.
Damn, damn, damn, damn!
He struggled against his bonds but every single movement just served to make the dull throb in his head hammer harder.
A moan escaped from his left and he turned to find Callie lying on the ground a few feet away from him, writhing weakly in pain.
"Joe… Joe… she's shot… I think she could be running a fever." A familiar voice, now hoarse with thirst, called out to him. Joe looked up and saw Elle, all tied up as well, some distanced away from Callie.
"Elle!" Joe exclaimed in a low breath. His partner's hair was damped with sweat and her lower lip was split. An ugly bruise on her cheek marred her perfect skin and Joe's own cheekbones twitched, feeling the pain for her. Callie groaned again and his heart leapt in his throat. He glanced at her worriedly and saw the bloodied, dirty bandage tied around her thigh.
"So here you are, with Cal. Where's Hallie? Have you seen her?" He asked softly, already knowing the answer in his heart.
"No… she's not. Can you get yourself loose? I tried but I'm tied too tightly…" Elle jerked away at her bonds in frustration before her muscles relaxed in defeat, "I can't begin to tell you how much this sucks."
"I feel that way too, Elle..." Joe tore his gaze away from Callie's suffering form. If he wanted to help them, he better hurry. He gazed piercingly into Elle's eyes as a glimmer of hope formed when he felt something pressed against his posterior.
"Listen, I'm going to literally drag my butt over to you. Help me out… try to wriggle around 360 degrees. I have a small, Swiss Army knife tuck in my back pocket that he neglected to take away…"
Elle nodded, knowing exactly what he had planned. It took the both of them some slow, agonizing minutes to get into the said position. Each second that passed was christened by a sweat bead. He was perspiring profusely out of the suffocating heat and fear. At any moment, the door could open before he could free all of them.
With their back pressed together, Elle dug her fingers into his back pocket for the knife. She got it out finally and as she fiddled around with it unaided by sight to flick the blade out, Joe prayed she was pointing the Swiss Army knife at the right direction because he didn't want to be stab in the back any time soon.
There was a metallic swish and Joe stilled for a moment before exhaling with relief when he felt no pain.
Elle clucked her tongue in annoyance.
"I'm not incompetent, you know… Stop fidgeting! I'll slit your wrist by accident." She hissed curtly and he immobilized himself with immediate effect.
"Nice to hear you all friendly and warm…" Joe jested nervously. He often got into such scrapes before with Frank and he had complete trust in his brother's skills to not accidentally bleed him to death. But Elle had never been in situations with him that needed perfect synchronization of mind and wrists' actions. He swallowed hard, staring fixatedly at the wooden door as he prayed earnestly for speed and safety.
"Elle, hurry…"
"I am, you idiot! Let me concentrate!"
Joe knew when Elle resorted to verbal abuse of him, it meant that she was really tensed up- which was not a good sign for his anxiety-frozen hands. "Ok… just relax. Don't worry about nicking me… I'll live."
"You said it." Elle breathed Joe could feel the vibrations of the sawing action coming on stronger and faster. He felt a sudden release from the tightness of the bonds and knew she had cut through the rope.
"Ok… hold back now." Joe stopped her enthusiastic sawing and then jerked his hands free of the bonds. In all urgency, he took the knife from her and sawed through the rope tied around his feet. Just when he was about to start freeing her, a key turned in the door knob.
"Joe!!!" Elle hissed anxiously.
Jumping to his feet, needing no prompting at all, he raced as swiftly as he could towards the door and pressed himself against the wall. It swung open, hiding him behind it as the man walked in, glaring at the cut ropes on the floor. Before he could turn around, Joe pummeled down on the fiend's back with hands clasped firmly together. Richard Thompson staggered a few steps in front but didn't fall. He turned around and swung a fist at Joe who not only dodged it but managed to deck the kidnapper hard on the cheek. Robert Thompson growled and lunged for Joe who couldn't sidestep in time.
They crashed onto the floor but Joe wasn't about to just lie under his attacker to be thrashed. He brought his knees up and thrust them vehemently into the solar plexus his enemy. Flung backwards from the impact, Richard strangely didn't seem fazed. If anything, he seemed angrier. Sensing danger if he tarried, Joe dove down on the hateful fiend, straddling him as he hailed punches left and right of the monster's face. He then grabbed at Robert's collar and pulled him up forcefully.
"Where's Hallie? Speak! Where's HALLIE!"
Robert's black eyes glinted menacingly. "I don't know… why not you kill me, dig into my brains and find out?"
"Go to hell!" Joe spat and slammed the man's head down hard onto the floor, "Tell me! Where is she?"
"You think I'll just tell you while you're hitting me? I can pick you off me like a fly."
At the last word, Richard brought his hands up to the back of Joe's head and yanked at his hair painfully. Joe's head jerked backwards at an awkward angle ands he gritted his teeth and scrounged his eyes against the agony. A fist landed sharply on his chin and he toppled over from the impact. He tried to push himself up with his forearms but Richard was down on him in a split second, clipping him hard on his left temple, ripping the gash that had stopped bleeding open again.
Blinding white spot darted in and out of his vision, Joe swung a wild shot out and, as luck would have it, Richard gripped his wrist in a constricting hold, leering at him condescendingly.
"Not so tough now, hotshot?"
"JOE! HE GOT A GUN!" Elle hollered and Joe gazed woozily at the swaying barrel of the gun, only that it wasn't the gun swaying...
God, his head throbbed. He struggled up to his feet only to be hit by another punch to his gut which knocked the wind out of him and sent him crashing down to the floor. Again he tried to rise; he wasn't going to cave in.
"You're so weak, daddy."
"Why you son of a…" Joe cursed and made desperate pounce at the man who laughed gleefully as he glided out of harm's way. Joe broke his own fall and, leveraging on his palms, he forced the pain out of his consciousness and jumped to his feet.
"Daddy! Daddy! I miss you!!!"
I miss you too, Hallie…" He scooped his daughter up and kissed her bubble-gummy sweet hair, "I miss you too…"
Hallie… daddy won't give up.
"Joe, behind you! JOE!!!!" Elle shouted frenziedly. Joe spun around but before he could make his move, a gunshot rang out. His jaw slacked as he clutched his stomach- there was supposed to be pain but he couldn't register it.
He couldn't even breathe.
As he crumbled down to his knees, he swung his right hand weakly out and grasped the man's shirt but the loose grip slipped soon after contact. Recognition of crippling pain torturously caused him to almost pray for death but Hallie's sweet smile hovered before him. He reached for his daughter to grab only air.
"JOE! Don't die on me! JOE!"
Joe gazed dazedly into the man's eyes, searching for some compassion in the twisted soul. There must be some goodness, even if only a tiny, little bit.
"Please…" He croaked as blood gushed out of the opened wound, seeping his life away, "let Hallie go…"
"You bastard! Rot in hell! Joe… stay awake… don't die… Joe!!!"
"Let… Hallie…go…"
The man smiled at him and, in his blurred vision, he couldn't tell if it was a smile of pity, evil or understanding.
"I can't let someone like you die with hope… you see, it's not to punish Hallie. It's to punish you. It's a lesson… to be learned." The man knelt down in front of him and tilted his chin up. The ground felt like it was giving way under his feet and the nausea was excruciating but he held on against the tormenting waves now constricting his muscles in agonizing pain.
"Where's…sh.. she?"
"You'll never know, detective…" Richard shoved him down onto the ground, sending new shockwaves of pain exploding within him. The monster moved away steadily, his eyes hooded over with brooding melancholy.
"I'll never tell. I miss my mother. A lot. More than you know. I think we have learned enough. They know who I am. Even if I kill you, I'll never escape. You'll die without even a single hope."
Another shot rang out. Elle screamed.
Joe's heart was crushed and a pain, so much more insufferable than his blasted guts, strangled his soul as he watched the man fell down in front of him with a hole drilled by the bullet into the side of his head.
The gun clattered out of the man's disfigured fingers. His eyes were opened, staring at nothing.
No… only he knows where Hallie is… only he knows!!!
Crawling over to the man, smearing the floor with trails of his blood, he felt for a pulse on the man's neck and found none. Weakly, he pressed a palm against the man's chest and again, nothing. No heart beat. He pounded away pathetically, hoping to jolt the heart to beat again. Maybe he wasn't really dead yet. Maybe Joe could rouse the soul for one more shot at compassion.
Maybe…
"Wake up… please… please… wake up…wake…"
He collapsed onto the man's stilled body- even love could only sustain him so much against the massive lost of blood. With his head lying down upon dead bones and flesh, unable to slip into unconsciousness, Joe wasn't spared the knowledge that he was about to die. Most agonizing was the strangulating failure which was just as, if not more, devastating than the gaping hole in his abdomen.
"Joe… don't die on me. Joe… come on… don't sleep. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep…"
At that very moment, he felt like a man reaching out for Heaven as he was plummeting into the spewing flames of hell. It was true- what they said about your life flashing pass you as you die- was dead true He was remembering his life as he lived it and he didn't think he liked what he saw.
In fact he detested it because… because…
Hallie…
The sounds grew more distant- it was almost as if he was being pulled away from a dream. Scampering footsteps, sobs of anguish and pleas for him to fight…
Elle, in the line of his distorted and blurring sight, shook her head as tears, unhelpful tears, streamed down her cheeks as she said something that sounded like, "No…"
Then there was nothing. No Hallie, no light, no hope.
