Peter couldn't understand
why Carter had just suddenly become scared. One minute he seemed
somewhat calm, the next he started panicking.
"Carter, listen to me. You're safe here. Lets..." Peter was interrupted by a knocking on the front door. Immediately Carter turned sheet white. Benton was afraid he was going to pass out. As he moved to open the door, Carter stepped infront of him.
"Don't!" Carter yelled. "Please, don't open the door."
"Carter, come on man. Out of the way."
Carter just shook his head. Again the man knocked on the door. More insistently this time.
"Carter, relax. I'm going to open the door and show you there's nothing to be afraid of." At the insistent shake of Carter's head, Benton gently placed both his hands on Carter's shoulders and moved him to the side. As he turned the doorknob he spared a sidelong glance at Carter, and saw him shaking his head from side to side with a terrified look on his face. Peter opened the door to see Jack Deadrick standing there.
"Hello Dr. Benton, Dr. Carter," Jack greeted them. He did a double take when he saw Carter. "Are you feeling alright Dr. Carter?"
Benton glanced at Carter, then answered for him. "He'll be fine, just had a little scare. Now, why are you here?"
"I've got some great news. We caught him! Mr. Vollmer's in custody at the moment. We need you to come down to the station to ID him. You know, standard operating procedure."
"Yeah, I know. Have you told McGuinty yet?" Peter asked.
"Yep." Deadrick moved to the side so Peter and Carter could see the street. "He left already. Now, if you two would come with me, we'll go to the station and I'll have you back here as soon as possible."
Carter watched Deadrick closely. Something was wrong with this picture. Deadrick was acting differently. Why would McGuinty leave without saying anything? He really didn't want to go to the station. He knew he should be glad that Vollmer was caught, but why did he feel uneasy about this? Carter looked over at Benton to see if he had picked up on anything. Apparently he hadn't.
"Carter? Come on, lets go."
Mark put down the phone with a dismayed look on his face. That was the third time he'd phoned in the past fifteen minutes. Surely Benton and Carter hadn't left the house. Maybe he was making too big a deal out of this. He was probably busy at the moment and coming to the phone just wasn't possible. Still, something about the situation bugged Mark. He picked up the phone and called Pete Dalton.
"Hi, Officer Dalton? This is Dr. Greene calling from County. I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I've tried to phone Benton for the past fifteen minutes and he isn't answering the phone. Do you think you could run over there to make sure everything's okay? My shift's not over for the next few hours so I can't do it myself."
"Um, you're right. You're probably just being paranoid. I'd give it a little while longer before getting worried. By the way, I'm glad you phoned. I managed to find out more on Vollmer and the name change," Pete replied.
"Oh yeah?" Mark asked, temporarily distracted from worrying about Benton and Carter.
"Yeah. Al Devreaux was a major criminal. You name it, he did it. A few months ago he changed his name to Jason Vollmer about the same time he married his wife Anna. Maybe to protect his past, because he stopped committing any crimes after he was married. Once his wife died, he started up again. You can see why Vollmer might be a little peeved with Dr. Carter."
"Jesus," Mark said softly. All his worries from before came back twice as strong. "I know you think I'm over reacting, but please check that everything's alright."
"Alright," Pete sighed. "I'm on my way there now."
"So," Peter started. "Where was Vollmer caught?"
"It's kind of interesting. It was Pete who caught him. Pete was at your apartment Dr. Carter. He was just checking up on things. When he went inside, Vollmer happened to be in there."
"Why would Vollmer of been in my apartment in the first place?" Carter asked from the backseat. It was the first thing he'd said since they left the house, and his voice held a note a contempt, which bothered Peter.
"He was probably looking for you, or something that could tell him where you could be."
Jack turned the car onto one of the streets that would take them away from the station. Carter immediately felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. He glanced at Peter and saw he had a confused look on his face.
"Where are you taking us?" Peter demanded.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." With that, Jack picked up his gun and brought it down on Peter's head, knocking him unconscious.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Carter yelled, panicked.
"Shut up," Deadrick said in a menacing tone.
"What are you going to do to us?" It was getting hard for Carter to think straight. He felt the panic threaten to overtake him, but he fought it down.
"I won't do anything to you. I'll leave it up to Vollmer," Jack nonchalantly replied.
"No! Please, let us go. Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side."
"On your side? I didn't think you were that naive. You know, a little money can make someone do almost anything."
"Let me out of here!" Carter tried opening the door, but it was locked. Frantically, he started banging on the glass. Without warning Deadrick jerked the steering wheel hard, sending Carter into the window. Hard. At the same time waking Peter up.
"I said shut up! Try that again and next time it'll be more than your face splattered against the window!"
Not only had that being slammed into the door given him a headache, but it had really jarrred his ribs. He tightly closed his eyes, and silently willed the pain away.
Peter slowly opened his eyes as he felt the car jerk hard to the right. It amplified the pounding in his skull. Remembering the last thing that had happened, he glanced at Carter and felt concern flood him as he saw his eyes tightly shut and a look of pain on his face. What the hell was going on? Why was Deadrick doing this? Benton was shocked when they drove up behind Carter's apartment building.
Carter had opened his eyes and had also noticed where they were.
"Why are we here?" Carter shakily asked.
"It's Vollmer's idea. You see, he wants you to remember his wife before he kills you."
Pete pulled up infront of Benton's house, and the first thing he noticed was the absence of the guards car which should of been parked out front. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door, keeping an eye open for anything out of the ordinary. He reached up and knocked on the door. After a few minutes with no response he tried again.
"Dr. Benton!? Dr. Carter?! Are you home? It's Officer Dalton!" he called.
Again no response. He reached out and tried to open the door. To his shock, it wasn't locked and opened easily. Cautiously he drew his gun and entered the house. Systematically he searched each room. As Dalton approached the bathroom he heard someone moaning. He stood outside the door for a moment, then stepped into the doorway and aimed his gun at the first person he saw. He quickly looked around the rest of the bathroom, and finding no one else in there, bent to down to help the man on the floor.
Pete removed the gag from his mouth and helped untie his wrists and ankles.
"Who are you?" Pete asked.
"Dave McGuinty. I was the cop assigned to guard Dr. Benton's house."
"Obviously you didn't do a very good job," Pete muttered, earning a glare from Dave. "So what the hell happened?"
"I'm not really sure. Something hit my car. I think it was a rock or something. As I got out to investigate something hit me on the back of the head, then I woke up here. That's all I remember."
"You should go to the hospital and get checked out. Where's your car?"
"What do you mean?" Dave asked, genuinely confused. "I left it parked outside."
"Well it's not there now. Come on, I've got a phone call to make," Pete said as he helped McGuinty up. As he walked past the kitchen a piece of paper on the table caught his attention. Curious, he went over and picked it up.
"Oh my God," he breathed. "Dave! Get over here and listen to this." When he was sure he had Dave's attention he read the note out loud. "Finally I have your friends. It was much too easy getting them. Really, I expected so much more from you guys. Now, like my wife, they both will die."
"Carter, listen to me. You're safe here. Lets..." Peter was interrupted by a knocking on the front door. Immediately Carter turned sheet white. Benton was afraid he was going to pass out. As he moved to open the door, Carter stepped infront of him.
"Don't!" Carter yelled. "Please, don't open the door."
"Carter, come on man. Out of the way."
Carter just shook his head. Again the man knocked on the door. More insistently this time.
"Carter, relax. I'm going to open the door and show you there's nothing to be afraid of." At the insistent shake of Carter's head, Benton gently placed both his hands on Carter's shoulders and moved him to the side. As he turned the doorknob he spared a sidelong glance at Carter, and saw him shaking his head from side to side with a terrified look on his face. Peter opened the door to see Jack Deadrick standing there.
"Hello Dr. Benton, Dr. Carter," Jack greeted them. He did a double take when he saw Carter. "Are you feeling alright Dr. Carter?"
Benton glanced at Carter, then answered for him. "He'll be fine, just had a little scare. Now, why are you here?"
"I've got some great news. We caught him! Mr. Vollmer's in custody at the moment. We need you to come down to the station to ID him. You know, standard operating procedure."
"Yeah, I know. Have you told McGuinty yet?" Peter asked.
"Yep." Deadrick moved to the side so Peter and Carter could see the street. "He left already. Now, if you two would come with me, we'll go to the station and I'll have you back here as soon as possible."
Carter watched Deadrick closely. Something was wrong with this picture. Deadrick was acting differently. Why would McGuinty leave without saying anything? He really didn't want to go to the station. He knew he should be glad that Vollmer was caught, but why did he feel uneasy about this? Carter looked over at Benton to see if he had picked up on anything. Apparently he hadn't.
"Carter? Come on, lets go."
Mark put down the phone with a dismayed look on his face. That was the third time he'd phoned in the past fifteen minutes. Surely Benton and Carter hadn't left the house. Maybe he was making too big a deal out of this. He was probably busy at the moment and coming to the phone just wasn't possible. Still, something about the situation bugged Mark. He picked up the phone and called Pete Dalton.
"Hi, Officer Dalton? This is Dr. Greene calling from County. I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I've tried to phone Benton for the past fifteen minutes and he isn't answering the phone. Do you think you could run over there to make sure everything's okay? My shift's not over for the next few hours so I can't do it myself."
"Um, you're right. You're probably just being paranoid. I'd give it a little while longer before getting worried. By the way, I'm glad you phoned. I managed to find out more on Vollmer and the name change," Pete replied.
"Oh yeah?" Mark asked, temporarily distracted from worrying about Benton and Carter.
"Yeah. Al Devreaux was a major criminal. You name it, he did it. A few months ago he changed his name to Jason Vollmer about the same time he married his wife Anna. Maybe to protect his past, because he stopped committing any crimes after he was married. Once his wife died, he started up again. You can see why Vollmer might be a little peeved with Dr. Carter."
"Jesus," Mark said softly. All his worries from before came back twice as strong. "I know you think I'm over reacting, but please check that everything's alright."
"Alright," Pete sighed. "I'm on my way there now."
"So," Peter started. "Where was Vollmer caught?"
"It's kind of interesting. It was Pete who caught him. Pete was at your apartment Dr. Carter. He was just checking up on things. When he went inside, Vollmer happened to be in there."
"Why would Vollmer of been in my apartment in the first place?" Carter asked from the backseat. It was the first thing he'd said since they left the house, and his voice held a note a contempt, which bothered Peter.
"He was probably looking for you, or something that could tell him where you could be."
Jack turned the car onto one of the streets that would take them away from the station. Carter immediately felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. He glanced at Peter and saw he had a confused look on his face.
"Where are you taking us?" Peter demanded.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." With that, Jack picked up his gun and brought it down on Peter's head, knocking him unconscious.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Carter yelled, panicked.
"Shut up," Deadrick said in a menacing tone.
"What are you going to do to us?" It was getting hard for Carter to think straight. He felt the panic threaten to overtake him, but he fought it down.
"I won't do anything to you. I'll leave it up to Vollmer," Jack nonchalantly replied.
"No! Please, let us go. Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side."
"On your side? I didn't think you were that naive. You know, a little money can make someone do almost anything."
"Let me out of here!" Carter tried opening the door, but it was locked. Frantically, he started banging on the glass. Without warning Deadrick jerked the steering wheel hard, sending Carter into the window. Hard. At the same time waking Peter up.
"I said shut up! Try that again and next time it'll be more than your face splattered against the window!"
Not only had that being slammed into the door given him a headache, but it had really jarrred his ribs. He tightly closed his eyes, and silently willed the pain away.
Peter slowly opened his eyes as he felt the car jerk hard to the right. It amplified the pounding in his skull. Remembering the last thing that had happened, he glanced at Carter and felt concern flood him as he saw his eyes tightly shut and a look of pain on his face. What the hell was going on? Why was Deadrick doing this? Benton was shocked when they drove up behind Carter's apartment building.
Carter had opened his eyes and had also noticed where they were.
"Why are we here?" Carter shakily asked.
"It's Vollmer's idea. You see, he wants you to remember his wife before he kills you."
Pete pulled up infront of Benton's house, and the first thing he noticed was the absence of the guards car which should of been parked out front. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door, keeping an eye open for anything out of the ordinary. He reached up and knocked on the door. After a few minutes with no response he tried again.
"Dr. Benton!? Dr. Carter?! Are you home? It's Officer Dalton!" he called.
Again no response. He reached out and tried to open the door. To his shock, it wasn't locked and opened easily. Cautiously he drew his gun and entered the house. Systematically he searched each room. As Dalton approached the bathroom he heard someone moaning. He stood outside the door for a moment, then stepped into the doorway and aimed his gun at the first person he saw. He quickly looked around the rest of the bathroom, and finding no one else in there, bent to down to help the man on the floor.
Pete removed the gag from his mouth and helped untie his wrists and ankles.
"Who are you?" Pete asked.
"Dave McGuinty. I was the cop assigned to guard Dr. Benton's house."
"Obviously you didn't do a very good job," Pete muttered, earning a glare from Dave. "So what the hell happened?"
"I'm not really sure. Something hit my car. I think it was a rock or something. As I got out to investigate something hit me on the back of the head, then I woke up here. That's all I remember."
"You should go to the hospital and get checked out. Where's your car?"
"What do you mean?" Dave asked, genuinely confused. "I left it parked outside."
"Well it's not there now. Come on, I've got a phone call to make," Pete said as he helped McGuinty up. As he walked past the kitchen a piece of paper on the table caught his attention. Curious, he went over and picked it up.
"Oh my God," he breathed. "Dave! Get over here and listen to this." When he was sure he had Dave's attention he read the note out loud. "Finally I have your friends. It was much too easy getting them. Really, I expected so much more from you guys. Now, like my wife, they both will die."