Chapter 5

Rick swore at the heavy traffic on the freeway, he was afraid they'd lose the signal from Laurie's watch. Although it had only been 20 minutes since she was taken, Oscar had managed to get a priority message to the OSI and they had just received a digital read out from her transmitter. "There, that's got to be the turnoff to the old warehouse district", he told Captain Ron.

The policeman nodded, he had been in the hospital talking to Oscar when Rick had felt his wife's panicked call. Knowing he couldn't stop Rick from going to her aid, he instead let him go along and had her uncle drive Rudy's van. He'd lined up some back up, but knowing the unstable nature of the woman, he didn't want to take any chances with Catherine Turner.

Suddenly Rick's transmitter beeped, and he felt Laurie sounding a frantic warning, "Don't come, darling, please, it's a trap, don't pay any attention to what I say."

Turning the dial to the receive setting, he heard a giggle, then a feminine voice sneered, "Are you missing something, Mr. Simon? This is so cool, I'm talking on a watch!"

Trying to keep his temper under control, he responded, "This is Rick Simon, is Laurie all right?" "For now, Mr. Simon, but she's much too much trouble to keep alive. Here, say something to your husband!" she laughed.

There was a pause, then the sound of a slap. "Say something now or I'll go get that cute nephew of yours, what's his name, Ricky?" she yelled in the background.

Rick froze with horror as the pain filled voice of his wife came on. "Richard, it's Laurie. Please do as she says, she's one serious woman!"

"Laurel, it's all right, whatever she wants, I'll do, just stay calm, honey." he answered, letting her know he picked up her information. A gasp sounded over the transmitter, then Palmer's sneer came again. "You got 15 minutes, Mr. Simon, drive to the warehouse district in Old Phoenix, then turn left and stay on Crater Drive until it dead ends. Come to the first brick building on the right, I'll leave the door open. No cops or she's dead, understand?"

"Yes, I'll be there," Rick snarled back, then the high-pitched laugh was heard again. "Temper, temper, Mr. Simon, or I might roast you both!"

Suddenly the red light went out, but not before Captain Ron had pulled in behind the red brick Brewer Building. "Thank God we got it turned on before she used it herself," the Captain said tersely. The older Simon nodded, then turning the transmitter to send, called to Oscar, "Did you get those directions, we're behind the building now!"

"Pulling in now, Rick, wait until we're in position then move in. Ron, I've got your units on my tail now, let them know to stay back until she's safe." Goldman replied. As the OSI chief parked, he caught sight of a blond head peering out of a window. "Rick, you and Ron move in now, she's seen us!" Oscar alerted them.

Quickly Rick let Laurie know they were coming in, then heard the terror in her mind as she told him, "Catherine set fire to some trash in the room, don't come in the side, there's a door in the rear. Hurry, darling!"

Advancing on the rear of the loading dock, he spotted the smoke coming through broken panes. Peering in, he saw his wife trussed to a column, then a blond woman raced in, gesturing angrily.

Mouthing "Now!" at Captain Ron, he pulled open the nearest window and jumped in. Yelling "Freeze", he caught the mental patient unawares as he pulled his gun and advancing toward his wife, said, "Come any closer to her and you're going back to California in a box!"

"Too late! You're both going to die!" she screamed, throwing a small object on the floor as he shot at her. A burst of flame told Rick it was a Molotov cocktail, and as it caught some of the debris on the warehouse floor, it threatened to become an inferno. Abruptly he saw her collapse on the burning trash, then disappear in the smoke.

As the fire started to advance toward Laurie, he quickly rushed to her side. Kneeling down he saw the fear in her eyes as he tried to unknot the cruel gag in her mouth. Pulling it away, she started to cough, and he worked frantically to cut her loose. "Darlin', I'll have you out of here in a second!" he reassured her, yanking at the ropes. Sinking her head onto his shoulder, she brokenly said, "Rick, you came, it didn't come true!" "Shh, my angel, you're safe!" he told her, lifting her up off the ground. Running back toward the exit, he saw Oscar rush in, then glance over at the flames, as Captain Ron yelled for them both to follow him.

Getting out the rusting back door, he met Rudy at his van and carefully laid her on the seat. "Thank God we found you, baby," Oscar told her, helping put an oxygen mask over her cut and bruised face. Rick felt like crying at the marks all over Laurie, he raised her bruised wrists and gently rubbed them.

"Darling, that feels better", she whispered through the mask, drawing in deep breaths of air.

After a few minutes she was breathing well enough for the doctor to take the mask off, so he could treat some of her wounds. Checking her for any broken bones, Rudy saw her turn white as she shifted in the seat. "Let me see, oh, God, honey, don't move." he told her quietly, then looked at Rick and said, "she's got a couple of broken ribs, I don't want them to puncture anything."

"Honey, what did she do to you?" Rudy asked, putting a cold cloth to a cut above her eye. "She kept slapping me when I wouldn't call Rick, so she was making threats to Ricky and Linda. Rudy, I didn't want Rick to come, she said she was going to burn me alive in front of him!" Laurie's voice shook. Her husband couldn't take it anymore, he put an arm around his wife and clung to her. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, I should never have let you go by yourself. If I'd been thinking straight at all, she never would have had a chance to take you from me!" "Oh, no, darling, please." she said, tears in her voice. "I should have told you what I saw at the hearing, it was just a flash but I was surrounded by flames and you were on the other side. It frightened me so much, I got dizzy. I still should have told Oscar and you."

Her uncle gazed at her, "Honey, you did start to tell us, but then we got off the subject when we worried about getting you two to the hospital. Any time it happens, you call or alert us, ok?" "Ok." she replied, squeezing his hand.

Rick kissed her near her ear, causing her to smile. "There's my brave girl, we're almost to the hospital. My turn to take care of you!" he promised.

Once Rudy got Laurie settled in a trauma room, Rick took a seat next to the bed, just holding her. hand "Darling, I know we were lucky to get out of there alive, but I still feel bad that she took my watch." she sniffed. Her husband wiped her eyes, then cuddled her very carefully against his chest. "I know, angel, you had that one so long. I'll make sure you get another watch, there's no way I want you unprotected."

"I love you, Rick, I'm not worried about being safe when I have your arms around me." she told him, kissing his cheek. "I love you too, sweetheart, I'm never going to let you go. As soon as we have a place to work, I want you to come with me. I know A.J.'s going to need time off when little who 'sit arrives, so I'm going to need you to back me up again, ok?" he kissed her face gently.

"Oh, yes, darling!", Laurie exclaimed, forgetting for a moment her injured ribs. She started to sit up, then gasped. "No, Laurie, stay still, I shouldn't have gotten you excited." he groaned, easing her back down on to the gurney. "Rick, I'm all right, it was just a pinch, as a matter of fact;" she whispered, putting her face against his cheek, "you can kiss it to make it better, later!"

"Promise?" he teased, watching her blush. Turning to put her lips to his, she answered, "Promise!"