In Today's Case: Darien's Capture, Part 2

"He's bleeding." Tess said as she looked at her hand stained with Darien's blood. Conan had nothing to say to her. He watched her closely, to make sure she was alright.

Tess gripped Darien's shirt in her other hand. She stood up and threw it down onto the balcony floor as she walked away. She covered her face with her hands shaking slightly. Conan looked at Darien's shirt as he reached out to grab it. Once his hand was placed onto his shirt Tess's cell phone began to ring. Conan looked as Tess looked at her pocket. She turned around and faced Conan with a little bit of blood on her face. She reached in and grabbed onto the cell phone. She took a deep breath as she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Did you find my clue?" came the other voice on the end of the phone.

"Yes I did. What kind of game is this!" Tess shouted into her cell.

"Be careful now. You're time was just cut short. Look inside the bag deeper and you'll find another clue that will help you out."

Click.

Tess placed her cell phone back into her pocket as she walked forward to the bag. She picked it up and reached further in. She pulled out a knife stained with blood. Tess stared at it. She didn't understand.

"A knife? How is this supposed to help us?" Tess asked. Conan stood up and pointed to it.

"Look at the grip." Conan said. Tess blinked a few times as she looked at the grip of the knife. There was a note. She ripped the note off and dropped the knife. She opened it and read it out loud.

"You're time is running out. Come to the police station. And find your next clue there." Tess rose and eyebrow. "The police station?" she said confused.

"He's sending us on a wild goose chase." Conan said. Tess nodded her head as she slipped the note into her pocket and picked up the knife and Darien's shirt placing them back into the bag.

"I figured as much." She said, "but with Darien now bleeding to death our time has cut short."

Conan nodded his head agreeing with her. "And now we have to find him before its too late."

Tess and Conan were off to the police station. They didn't know what they were going to find there. Another clue telling them that Darien is hurt and still bleeding? Or a clue that would put them one step forward then they are.

They were now racing against time to find Darien. And they arrived at the police station. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Other then the few cops around there.

"Let's split up." Tess said looking down at Conan. He looked up at her and nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll go this way."

"And I'll go this way."

Tess and Conan went their separate ways. They looked around carefully looking for anything that might be misplaced or odd.

Tess reached the upstairs. She looked around carefully. Making sure no one came out and jumped her. Suddenly the lights went out. She looked behind her to see there was no longer anyone around. It was just her and Conan roaming around the police station. She looked forward trying to stay calm and not worry about Darien. She felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of her head. She placed her hand on her head as she breathed through her teeth. She removed her hand to look at her own blood.

'Darn it! I'm no bleeding even more then I was before.' She thought to herself. 'But I have to keep on going. I have to find Darien.'

Tess's vision began to get blurry and clear up every few seconds. She struggled to stay on her feet and wobbled around as she walked. She had to keep standing. She can't give into her injury and pass out. She shook her head a few times trying to shake the pain but it only made it worse.

"AH!" Tess's eyes widened as she turned her head.

"JIMMY!" She shouted out running back in the opposite direction. "JIMMY? JIMMY! WHERE ARE YOU!" she called out.

"TESS! HELP!" Tess came to a stop in front of Inspector Maguire's office. She tried to open the door but it was locked. Through the thick and foggy glass she saw Conan struggling to get out of the hands of a man inside of the room. Tess backed away as she began to kick the door. The struggling noises of Conan stopped as did his body movement. Tess's eyes widened further as she then balance herself on her left foot and kicked the glass window breaking it to pieces. She reached in and turned the doorknob. She opened the door and looked down.

There lying on the floor was Conan. He laid on his left side with his arm over his head. She ran to him and dropped to her knees.

"JIMMY!" She screamed as she started to shake him.

"Ahem." Someone said. Tess looked up.

BAM!

Who ever was in the room had landed a kick to her face knocking her to the floor. Tess got up with pain raging through her nose and the back of her head. She turned her head to look at her attacker. It was to dark to make out who he was. But his voice alone was familiar.

"You're next clue is this kid!" he shouted kicking Conan in his side rolling him over towards Tess. Tess looked down at him. She looked over at the black bag that carried Darien's shirt and a knife. She looked back at the man and dove for it. She reached in to grab the knife when the man's foot slammed onto her hand.

"ARGH!" Tess shouted closing her eyes tightly. She looked up. Her forehead touched something cold. It was the barrel of her gun.

"You're next clue is on the kid." He said. Tess stared at him as she was then knocked in the face with the grip of her gun. Tess's body was tossed onto the floor one more time and whoever her attacker was, he was now gone.

Tess's body shook as she forced herself onto her hands and knees. She spit out blood from her mouth from being hit with the grip of the gun. She lifted up her right hand wiping off blood that dripped out slowly. She sat up onto the heels of her feet as she turned and looked at Conan.

"Jimmy…" she said softly as she crawled to him. She reached out grabbing onto the back of his shirt pulling him close to her. Tess lifted up his limp body and cradled it in her arms as she pulled herself to sitting onto her heels. "Jimmy?" she called his name softly but there was no answer from him. Tess bent over placing her hand onto the floor as she stood up. More blood dripped from her nose and her mouth as she stood upright.

She walked out of Inspector Maguire's office struggling to stay on her feet. She walked till she got to the stairs when the lights kicked on. She looked over towards the door to see Richard, Rachel, and Inspector Maguire standing there. Inspector Maguire had flicked on the lights. They gasped seeing her stand there at the top of the stairs.

"Tess!" Rachel yelled running to her. Tess watched as Rachel ran up the stairs. She could no longer keep on standing. She dropped to her knees holding Conan tightly in her arms. Rachel got down on the last step of the stairs. She placed her hand on her chin lifting up her face so she would look at her. "What happened to you?" she asked. Richard and Inspector Maguire were no racing up the stairs.

"I… we were attacked." Tess said looking at Conan as he laid limp in her arms. Rachel looked at him.

"Oh my…" Rachel was in shock. Tess didn't notice but there was blood running down the side of his head as Tess held onto him. Rachel reached out to take Conan and Tess handed him over, but not before she grabbed the clue off of him that was in an envelope. "Conan?" she called to him.

"Tess are you alright?" Richard asked reaching the top of the stairs. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tess answered. Inspector Maguire looked at her face to see the blood and then at Conan.

"Looks like you guys were in a tough fight." He stated. Tess nodded her head as Richard helped her up onto her feet.

"Yeah. In a fight with a man who has Darien." Tess said softly. Rachel had heard her as she looked up.

"You were attacked by him?" she asked. Tess nodded her head.

"Yeah." She answered. "He… never mind." Tess wasn't going to tell them anymore. This was now her battle. She didn't want them to get involved, and she didn't want Conan to be there with her anymore. "Take Conan to the hospital." Tess said.

"What about you?" they asked in unison.

"Who cares about me? I care about Conan right now. It was my fault that he was attacked." Tess said to them as she walked down the stairs. They watched her limp slightly as she walked out of the police station. Richard looked over to see Inspector Maguire's office door was opened.

"Inspector," he called. "You're office door is opened." He said.

"It is?" he asked. He walked over and stood in front of the door. His mouth nearly dropped to the floor to see that his office was a mess. A couple of blood spots sat on the floor as did the glass from his door. The one thing that caught his eye was the black bag. He walked forward and bent down picking it up.

"What is that?" Rachel asked standing at the door with her dad.

"A bag." He answered.

"What's in it?" Richard asked walking forward. Inspector Maguire shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know." He answered. He opened the bag as Richard watched him over his shoulder. He reached in grabbing onto Darien's shirt pulling it out. He blinked as something fell to the floor with a 'CLING' noise. They looked down to see a knife stained with blood.

"This is Darien's shirt." Richard said as he grabbed onto it. Inspector Maguire looked at his white gloves to see blood.

"Looks like Darien's bleeding." He said. Richard blinked as he showed him his hands.

"So then the knife must be stained in his blood." Richard pointed out.

"SIR!" shouted an officer standing at the door way next to Rachel. They looked over. "We got the blood test back." He stated.

"Whose blood does it belong too?" Inspector Maguire asked him turning to face him.

"Tess Moore."

Tess walked on down the street. She limped a little from kicking the glass window. She grabbed her hand that was stomped on and she let her nose and mouth bleed. Tess came to a stop and leaned p against a light post. She reached down pulling out pieces of glass out of her shoe. She closed her eyes tightly with pain going through her head. She stood upright carefully. She leaned her head on the clod melt post as she closed her eyes.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

Tess looked down at her pocket. She felt her phone vibrate. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell looking at the little window and it again said "Private Caller." Tess answered it placing her phone against her ear.

"Yeah?"

"TESS! I-…" Tess's eyes widened as Darien's voice was cut short.

"DARIEN!" she shouted into the phone.

"You better hurry up. He's bleeding badly." Came Jacob's voice. Tess gripped onto her phone as she pushed herself off of the light post.

"IF YOU HURT HIM AGAIN I'LL-…"

"You'll what?" he asked. "Kudo was nearly killed and Darien over here is bleeding to death. Think about it for a minute Tess. This is all your fault." Tess's eyes widened as Jacob continued to talk on the phone. "If you would've died with her mother and father in that car crash, there wouldn't be an issue would there?"

"TEEEEEEESS!" Come Richard's voice running down the street. Tess looked over at him as she turned away.

"Listen to me! Tell me where you are and we'll finish this! You and me!" Tess shouted.

"No can do. People have to suffer first."

Click.

Tess growled as she flipped the top of her phone closed. She gripped her phone as Richard came closer to her. She turned her back placing her phone into her pocket and hiding the envelope in her jacket.

"Tess!" he shouted coming to her. Tess didn't wait. She began to limp away. But Richard soon caught up to her. "Tess wait!" she came to a stop. "You need to go to the hospital.

"I'll be fine." Tess said to him as she began to walk away. Richard grabbed onto her arm tightly to the point where she turned and looked at him.

"Your head has been bleeding for an hour! This is dangerous Tess!" he shouted at her. Tess ripped her arm away turning to face him.

"How did you…"

"We ran a blood test on the blood found at the library. And it came out to be yours." He answered her. Tess looked down as Richard grabbed her arm again. "Come on. I'm taking you to the hospital with Conan." He said.

"NO!" Tess shouted ripping her arm away. Richard looked at her. "I'm not going!" she shouted.

"Yes you are!" Richard demanded. Tess glared at him as she then snapped.

"NO I'M NOT! I HAVE TO FIND DARIEN!"

"DARIEN CAN WAIT!"

"NO HE CAN'T! IF YOU FOUND THAT BLACK BAG IN INSPECTOR MAGUIRE'S OFFICE YOU KNOW THAT DARIEN CAN'T WAIT! HE' BLEEDING TO DEATH RICHARD! I'M NOT GOING TO LET HIM DIE!" Richard watched her walk away. There was nothing he could do to stop her. she was stubborn and she wasn't going to stop till she found Darien.

Tess waited till she was out of sight before she removed the envelope. She pulled it out of her jacket and leaned up against a wall and opened it. She reached in pulling out another piece of paper that was folded. She unfolded it and read it to herself.

Highway Lane. I'll be waiting.

She didn't quite understand Jacob. All the phone calls with the clues all added up to this location. She looked up to see that she was standing at the beginning of Highway Lane. She turned and walked forward.

In the hospital; Conan was waking up. He looked around to find himself in a hospital bed. He sat up and looked at his arm to see that he was hooked up to an I.V. he lifted up his hand placing it onto his head to feel bandages. He looked towards the door to see a window. There Rachel stood talking to a doctor. She looked in the window to see him awake. She looked back at the doctor and bowed as he walked way. Rachel then entered the room.

"Hey Conan." She said.

"Hi Rachel." He returned her greeting, "Where's Tess?" he asked. Rachel looked at him.

"I don't know Conan." She answered taking a seat on the bed. "She didn't come back with my dad." she added. Conan looked at her funny. Why would she come to the hospital? Isn't she okay?

"Is she okay?" Conan then asked her. Rachel shook her head.

"No Conan, she's badly hurt." She answered him. Conan's eyes widened as he freaked out a little.

"How bad is she hurt?" he asked with his voice rising a little bit. Rachel looked at him as she sighed.

"You do deserve to know." She said to him. "Tess has an extremely bad head wound that has been bleeding for about an hour now. The blood found on the library floor was hers. We don't know how much blood she's lost. And she's losing even more with her bleeding at the nose and mouth from being beaten by your attacker." She told him. Conan was shocked. Not only was Darien bleeding to death, he just learned that Tess was as well.

"So… Tess is… bleeding to death?" he asked her. Rachel nodded her head.

"If you want to call it that." Rachel said to him. She stood up and walked over to the door. "I'll let you rest now okay?"

"Okay." Rachel left the room. Conan sighed. He couldn't believe at what he just heard. But it does make sense. He knew something was wrong with Tess when he found her at the library. He didn't know what it was at that time but he knew there was something wrong with her. And now he knows that she was hurt. 'Tess, I can't believe you. I can't believe that you wouldn't tell me so you could get help. It seems like Darien's not the only one bleeding to death.'

Tess walked the street of Highway Lane. She looked around. She didn't know what abandoned house she should walk into or go to. She then stepped on something. She looked down to see Darien's cell phone. She looked to where it dropped in front of. It landed right in front of an old house that looked like it was going to fall from a mouse moving across the floor.

Tess gripped Darien's cell in her hand. Something told her that he was in that house, so she went in. she pushed open the door looking around. She placed one foot in front of her at time and being careful. She looked around when she heard someone walking. She looked up at a catwalk to see Jacob walking across towards the stair case holding two guns in his hands. She watched him as he watched her. Now, Jacob stood at the top of the stairs.

"Well, well, well. You did show up." He said to her.

"Did you think I wasn't?" she asked him. "You have my best friend in here and he's bleeding to death."

"What about you." he said. Tess stared at him. "That wound on your head as been bleeding for about an hour now. You lost a lot of blood." He said. She didn't say anything because he was right. She did lose a lot of blood. She wouldn't be surprised if the back of her jacket and shirt was covered in her crimson blood.

"Also," he continued, "your foot must be hurting from kicking that window, maybe there's a little bit of glass in there as well. And I probably broke a few bones by stomping on your hand the way I did. What about Kudo? Is he dead?"

"No." Tess answered. "He's alive and well."

"And how would you know that?" he asked her. "You didn't even go visit him yet, so how would you know?" he asked.

"I just know!" Tess shouted with her voice echoing. Jacob smiled an insane smile as he tilted his head back.

"Maybe you should've gone to visit him." He said to her.

"Why?" she asked looking at him weirdly.

"Because, you will not leave here alive!" he lifted up his hands as he held onto the guns tightly. Tess's eyes widened as he pointed them at her. She began to run with a slight limp as he began shoot.

Tess took cover behind a few boxes set around the room. She laid on the floor with her legs tucked up to her chest as she covered her head. Her covering spot wasn't so big and it wasn't so strong either. Bullets flew through the boxes like they were nothing. Tess closed her eyes waiting for the moment where he had to refill the gun.

Soon, he chance came. Jacob let out a swear or two as he dumped out the empty cartage out of the gun. He reached into his back pocket as he grabbed two. Tess jumped out from her covering spot and ran up the stairs. Jacob rushed as Tess came closer and closer to him. He only manage to get one gun filled. The was more then enough. He lifted up his gun and shot at her. Tess came to a stop as she dropped to her knees with her eyes set on Jacob. She placed her hand on the weak railing forcing herself up. She looked at Jacob as she walked forward. Jacob's smile disappeared as he shot his gun a few more times. tess kept on walking.

How could it be? He must've shot her about four or five times. Now, Tess was standing in front of him.

"It's something called a… vest!" Tess kneed him right in his stomach was the gun dropped out of his hand. he reached for it and Tess kicked it down the stairs. She then slammed her foot into his face knocking him back. Tess looked at the empty gun on the floor and the cartage that had fallen out of his back pocket. She quickly picked it up and refilled it.

Tess looked at Jacob as the both of them pulled out their own weapon. Tess had a gun. Jacob had a knife. Tess stared at him seriously as Jacob's eyes widened as he laid on the floor. Jacob's hand opened as he dropped the knife onto the stair. Tess pressed the gun right up onto his forehead.

"I should kill you." Tess growled.

"Then do it." Jacob said to her. "Kill me! KILL ME!" Jacob yelled grabbing onto the barrel of the gun pressing it harder on his own head. "SHOOT ME!" he shouted. Tess stared at him. She saw how serious he was. Tess then placed her foot on his chest pushing him back onto the floor as his hand slipped off of the gun.

"You're not worth killing." Tess said to him. "Where's Darien?" she asked him pulling the hammer back.

"Up there. First door on your right." He answered. Tess gave him one more kick to the face as she walked up the stairs. She turned her to right and opened the door. There bound to a chair and gagged was Darien. He was shirtless. On his right side was a hole that looked like was cause by a knife or some kind. Blood ran down his side as his head was lowered on his upper chest. His hair was rustled up and dirty. A few bruises laid on his face from some beatings. Blood was shown at the bottom of the gag to show that his mouth was bleeding.

"Darien?" she called to him. Darien lifted up his head. He looked shocked as tess stood there. A smile came across Tess's face as she ran to him. She dropped to her knees in front of him taking the gag off of his mouth. "You're alright!" she shouted giving him a hug.

"Yeah." He said to her. "I knew you would come."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked him as she pulled herself away from her weak and injured friend."

"You've been beaten." Darien said looking at the dried blood on her face. Tess walked around him as she began to untie his hands. "And you're limping. Are you alright?" he asked as he pulled his hands in front of him rubbing his right wrist.

Tess nodded her head, "I'm fine Darien." She said. Darien froze. Tess looked up and there was Jacob pointing a gun to them. His target was Tess, but since she had a vest on, his target moved to Darien. Tess's eyes widened. Right when he was about to shoot Tess opened fired on him. Jacob's body jerked with every bullet that entered his body, and then he fell to the floor. Darien stood up as he turned and looked at Tess.

"Whoa…" he said. "Remind me not to get on your bad side." he added. Tess nodded her head.

"All-ri-…" Tess dropped to the floor.

"TESS!" Darien shouted getting down next to her. He lifted up her upper body. He felt blood as he touched her head. He removed his hand and looked to see her blood staining his hand. Darien reached into Tess's pockets pulling out her cell and dialing 9-1-1.

"Tess?" Tess heard a familiar voice calling her name. "Tess?" she wanted to open her eyes but they were much to heavy. "Tess? Tess wake up." She soon gave in to whoever was talking to her. She opened her eyes as a bright light shined in her face. She turned her head away clenching her eyes shut.

"Where am I?" she asked as she turned her head again to see Conan in a hospital gown with bandages wrapped around his head.

"You're in the hospital." He answered her. Tess went to sit up when a hand came onto her chest pushing her back down. She looked over to see Darien.

"Darien." She smiled. "I'm glad your okay."

"No, I'm glad your okay. When the ambulance got you here, you had lost a good amount of blood." Darien said to her.

"I'm glad that both of you are okay." She said looking at Conan. "I'm never letting you guys out of my sight."

Next Time on Case Closed: "How long do I have to stay here for?" Tess ends up staying in the hospital while Darien and Conan get to leave. To add more, Richard gets a case. Since there's no Tess for Conan to get help from, he's got to relay on Darien to help him out. But will they last with a murderer obsessed with killing?

Next Time: Obsession of Murder

Next Conan's Hint: Journal