Well, I'm finally back! Sorry for the really long wait, but thanks a lot for the reviews. You've waited long enough so…

All Disclaimers Apply

Psychotic Break-out

Chapter 13: Picking Up The Signal

" Steve!" Mark called as he struggled to keep up with his frantic son who was striding way ahead. His breath came in short, sharp gasps as his lungs fought for air. "Steve! Slow down!" His voice sounded more like a croak as he spluttered.

"Slow down?" Steve called over his shoulder. "Dad! We have to get to Jesse before he does something stupid!" Steve's nerves were ablaze, he had white hot blood coursing through his veins, and his heart was beating so hard he thought it would jump right up his throat and out onto the pavement in front of him. If Jesse dies it'll be your fault! The horrible little voice inside his head that he had been trying to silence for the past few minutes had another go at him. He couldn't let Jesse die, and the not knowing what to do was just about killing him. His father wanted to slow down, but the truth was that if Steve slowed down for one second, he felt as if he would self-destruct.

"Steve! We don't know where he went! We can't solve this by just storming ahead without thinking things over. He could be anywhere and we don't know when he wrote that note." Mark fought to keep control of his shaking voice. "Steve…" He pressed in a more gentle voice as he saw his son's pace falter ever so slightly, "He could already be d – "

"Don't say it Dad!" Steve yelled as he stopped and turned to face Mark. "I need to feel hope, I just – I can't let that thought enter my head. He's alive, he just has to be!" His eyes were like that of a small child, pleading with his father for reassurance.

"I want to feel that way too son! The thought of losing him to suicide is too much to bear! But we have to think about where he might have gone. We may only have one shot at this" Mark's deep blue eyes connected meaningfully with the soft grey of Steve's. There was a glimmer of understanding. "Let's have another look at the note"

* * * *

Steve sat uncomfortably and impatiently in the driver's seat of his car, watching as his father poured over Jesse's note. Steve could almost see the wheels of thought whirring inside his father's brain. He, on the other hand, felt useless. He must have read that note a thousand times, and he hadn't spotted any kind of clue that might tell them where Jesse had gone. He let his head rest against the window as a feeling of hopeless dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

Mark felt Steve's helplessness but he couldn't afford to let it affect him. He needed to leave his mind clear and open to any slight abnormality in the pattern of Jesse's words. Every time he read it, and re-read it, something struck him as odd. The language seemed too contrived to be sincere – not that he doubted that Jesse's mental state might leave him open to the possibility of suicide…but Jesse wasn't normally this open about his emotions. Sure, he was impulsive, but he usually found it very difficult to express how he was feeling deep down.

Suddenly Mark realised what it was that had been bothering him about the note. Jesse seemed to have stressed the first letter of each line as he had written it. A simple trick, he thought, but it just might be…

"Steve?" Mark's voice was urgent as he drew Steve out from his contemplative trance. Steve's head lifted immediately and he focussed his attention directly on his father.

"What is it Dad?" He asked, his voice eager.

"I don't think Jesse was acting under his own influences. I noticed that when he wrote this note, he laid particular stress on the beginning of each line he had written. Just look at this!" Mark's voice grew excited as he drew his finger down the line of letters. "C-H-L-O-E H-E-L-P!"

"Chloe!" Steve exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Steve it wasn't you're fault! We all thought she was gone! Even Jesse did! The main thing now is to figure out where she might have taken him!"

Just then Steve's cell phone sliced through the silence and made them both jump.

"Sloan here" Steve barked into the mouthpiece, angry at being interrupted. "Yeah? … What … Are you sure? … Has she said anything about Jesse? … He's missing and we think Chloe may have had something to do with it! … No, we're just outside, we'll be there in five" Steve hung up abruptly. "That was Cheryl!" he told his father excitedly, "They've just discovered where Chloe Marsden's been hiding out! And it's just across the road!"

* * * *

Cheryl met them in the hallway outside of the small apartment in which Chloe Marsden had spent the past few months.

"Steve. Mark." She greeted them with a nod and then proceeded to tell them what she had found out. "A lady, Mrs. Shaw, called us a couple of hours ago claiming that a woman had kept her prisoner for two months. The description matched Chloe's except apparently now she has blonde hair. Apparently she'd been keeping an almost constant vigil at the living room, care to take a guess at what she was looking at, or should I say who?"

"Jesse!" Steve exclaimed. He pulled out Jesse's note. "Take a look at this"

Cheryl's eyes widened and her eyebrows arched in shock as she read. "Wow, this is pretty intense. What makes you think Chloe Marsden has anything to do with this?"

"Just look at the first letter of each line" Steve pointed. Cheryl nodded as she understood the implication of the note. There was a silence between them for a few moments.

"What else did the woman say?" Mark demanded, growing anxious "Did she say anything else about Chloe?"

"Follow me" Cheryl said as she turned and led them both inside the apartment. A chaotic scene met their eyes: paramedics were examining the lady, who looked to be in her mid-sixties; a forensics team was combing the apartment; and a police officer was trying to interview Mrs. Shaw while she was being examined.

"Okay Jones we'll take over" Cheryl said to the harassed officer.

Steve took a look at the poor widow as she sat huddled on her sofa. Chloe had wrought so much havoc in everyone's life; this poor woman was no exception. His face softened as he took in her frightened eyes and trembling body. God knew what Chloe Marsden had done to her.

The two medics stood up and announced that Mrs. Shaw would have to be treated for shock.

"Can we just have a quick word?" Steve asked urgently, and reluctantly they agreed, seeing the look of immediacy in Steve's eyes.

"Mrs. Shaw? I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan, this is my partner Detective Cheryl Banks and this is my father Dr. Mark Sloan. Would it be all right if we asked you a few questions about Chloe Marsden?"

Mrs. Shaw nodded nervously. "Okay"

"Did she ever mention a man named Jesse Travis?"

"Y-yes! Now that you mention it she did! She was talking about him before she left"

"When exactly did she leave?" Mark asked gently.

Mrs. Shaw warmed to him immediately, as he flashed her a glittering smile. "I don't know exactly, but it must have been in the small hours of the morning" Her eyes glanced from Mark to Steve, and then back to Mark again as she watched their expressions.

"Mrs. Shaw it's very important that we find out where she went! Did she say anything?" Steve interrupted impatiently; he was long tired of waiting for answers.

"Steve! Calm down!" Mark exclaimed, shooting Steve an exasperated look, "It's okay Mrs. Shaw, it's just that we are trying to prevent this woman from committing a murder and it would be very helpful if you could give us something – anything – on where she may have gone" Mark continued in his encouraging tone.

Mrs. Shaw screwed up her face in concentration as she struggled to remember. "I did see her look at a map. From where I was sitting I could see very little, but I did notice that she traced her finger along the coast line"

"Thanks Mrs. Shaw you've been extremely helpful! I hope you feel better soon! Let's go Dad!" Steve rushed out of the apartment pulling his father along with him.

"Steve slow down!" Mark shouted as he stumbled after. "There are miles of coastline!"

"Dad don't you see? They've gone to Malibu! We have to go now!"

To Be Continued…