A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews everyone. You guys are awesome and it's a pleasure writing for you. I'm going to write as much as possible the next few days, so keep checking!
Chapter 17:
The dark hours of the night brought nothing but restlessness and aggravation at the FBI. When the clock struck midnight, there was a sense of dread and hopelessness in the bullpen, feeling powerless to stop the events unfolding, praying it wasn't too late. Myles, D, Jack and Bobby were all drowning themselves in caffeine. Early morning had struck and they were completely lost, without any leads.
A man walked into the bullpen. Jack and Bobby didn't even react; they only kept staring off into the distance, hoping for a miracle.
"I have a package here for a Bobby Manning?" he asked. Bobby turned, barely interested.
"Yeah mate, that's me." The man came over, Bobby signed the package and then he left.
"Who's it from?" asked Myles, desperate to focus his attention on something other than the case at hand. Bobby just shrugged. Then he looked down. It took him a second to process what the package said. He read aloud what was written.
"Bobby Manning and team, FBI. Re: Sue Thomas. Oh my God." Jack ran over and looked at the package. He stared at it in disbelief. Was it evidence? Could it help them find Sue?
"Open it." Jack said firmly but couldn't find the strength to open it himself, scared of what it might reveal. Myles and D also had come over. They all crowded around the small package, unsure of what to do. Finally, Myles' impatience and curiosity got the better of him and he decided to take fate into his hands and open it. He took it from Bobby's hands. No one said anything. He carefully opened it. It was a memory stick.
"Where's Tara when you need her." Myles muttered. Jack figured he knew enough about computers to look what was on the memory stick. He also needed to know what they wanted. He looked at the others and said,
"Let me try to load it on my computer." Myles handed him the computer device and they all went to Jacks desk. Jack sat down and the 3 others stood behind him, anxious to see what they had been sent. After a few minutes Jack managed to open the folder saved on the disk. There were two files. He clicked the first one, that said Open me first. A video clip started to play. All they could see was darkness but then an altered voice, obviously computer manipulated so they wouldn't identify who was speaking.
"Hey Bobby. And of course, how could I forget my manners. I'm sure the rest of your little buddies are around too. I have something very precious of yours. Something I'm not willing to give up now that I have it. And doesn't it just feel awful to not be able to do anything about it? Even if you know who I am – you'll never find us. Bobby this is personal. This is because of you. And if you don't know why, then you're more stupid than I thought. We're going to have lots of fun, the girl and I. And she's going to help me out a lot too. But I'm a compassionate person and I wouldn't want you not to see her again. You should have your chances to say goodbye. Not that the deaf rat can hear you, but I'll at least let you see her. Click on the second file and you'll understand what I mean.
Now here's our little deal. You give up trying to figure out where the drug deal is happening today. If you already know, you don't show up. You don't go after Joshua Cain or Brendan Pratner. If you do – I kill her. And you'll all be able to watch it all. You have viewing privileges until midnight tonight. And then we're gone, and I'll let you know what we plan to do with the girl. Tread carefully. Have a wonderful day!"
The message ended. They all were silent in disbelief.
"Bastard!" shouted Jack. He slammed his fists on his desk. He had never felt so helpless before.
"How do we know he's not just playing games with us? How do we know she's even still alive? They could have finished their deal already for all we know." Myles said. Jack shot him a look, one of complete denial.
"No, I don't think the deal's happened yet, or else why would he warn us to not keep investigating? He said: you give up trying to figure out where the drug deal is happening today." exclaimed D. "Our first priority right now is Sue. We need to find her, and get her safe. I don't care if we don't stop this drug deal; I just want her back unharmed." Jack nodded. "Open the second file Jack." Jack clicked it open and gasped. It was Sue. From the looks of it, it was a live feed.