Chapter 6

Saturday

Just as Devane promised, McCall had a constant guard outside her door and when Hunter was on duty promised to only call to check on her during her breakfast, lunch and dinner so he was sure not to wake her. Whenever he was in the general area of the hospital he stopped in for a visit; sometimes three times in a day. He was always sorry that he couldn't tell her that Jason Young had been found, but he was able to help her cope with it a little better by letting her talk about it.

During his lunchtime visit there was a knock at the door and Hunter answered and saw that it was Kitty O'Hearn. She entered the room with concern for her friend, but with her usual cheery manner.

"Hey, kid. How ya feeling?"

"Not the greatest, but I'll be okay." McCall answered with a smile.

"When I got the call from Charlie, I was so glad to hear that Rick found you." She sighed with relief. I was really worried about you."

McCall offered more apologies for causing her friends to worry. "I'm really sorry. I told Rick that I just couldn't deal at the time and had to clear my head. I just started walking and couldn't stop. Well, that is, until I collapsed."

"I understand. I was just afraid for you." Kitty smiled as she continued. "Well, since I was headed this way, I thought I'd stop by for a few minutes. I even brought a few essentials that I had in the car." She flashed a bright smile as she plopped a large pale yellow tote on the bed.

"Do you always have this tote with you?" McCall questioned.

"Yes, I do." She said proudly. "I keep it in my car all the time. I like to be prepared."

"I see." Hunter raised a curious brow. "And what else do we have in our bag of tricks?"

"I've got everything I need in this bag to aid in hair care, nail care, makeup and more." Kitty winced as she tugged on McCall's sleeve. "I even brought something more appealing to the eye than this awful hospital gown."

McCall held up the pink lace baby doll gown and watched as Hunter's eyes lit up. "Thanks Kitty. But, I think I need something a little less revealing and a little warmer."

Hunter slumped in his chair. "Spoilsport."

"See, Rick likes it." She said with a wink. "And I'm sure a lot of cute doctors and male nurses will too."

"Um…I'll still have to pass." McCall smiled bashfully. "It's really pretty, but I'm trying to stay warm here, and this lace isn't very warm."

"Oh, alright, suit yourself. Make a list, let me have your key and I'll go to your house and get your things."

"Thanks, Kitty. I'd really appreciate that. My keys are in my purse. It's…" She realized she didn't have it with her. "Oh, my purse is still at the office. Hunter, let her have your key."

"Sure."

Kitty smiled and hopped off the bed. "I'm gonna head on out to your place now and I'll drop your things by before going to work."

McCall thanked her. "See ya later."

Sunday

The three days had come and gone and McCall was feeling much better. On the fourth day, after the doctor made his rounds, he informed her that she had permission to leave as soon as she was ready. When Hunter came to pick her up she sat in the middle of the bed waiting for the wheelchair while he made sure to collect all her gifts of flowers, cards and balloons.

"Hey, these are really nice," he commented on the dozen white roses.

"They are, aren't they? They weren't here a few minutes ago. They must have come when I was in the shower. Let me see the card."

He handed her the small white envelope which contained a small black card with blood red lettering. She found the colors a little odd and suddenly the card seemed even more than a little uninviting, but she read it anyway.

"Get well soon, Sgt. McCall. I want you in the best of health when I add you to the collection." Just below the last word, she noticed drawing of a small dagger piercing a heart on the card. She gasped and dropped the card.

"What is it, DeeDee?" Hunter filled with concern, moved to her side. "Are you okay? Do you need a nurse?"

Rick reached for the call button, but before he could ring for the nurse, DeeDee grabbed his hand. "No, I don't need a nurse. I'll be fine." She took a cleansing breath and looked down at the card. "Read it."

Rick picked up the small card and read the note silently. "Damn it!" His face burned with rage as he ran to the door and scanned the hallway. Officer Patricia Lewis was standing at her post outside the door. "Lewis. Who brought the white roses?"

"A hospital volunteer." Lewis stated. "Like most of the other flowers and gifts, they were left at the front desk and brought up by a volunteer." The officer saw the anxious look in Hunter's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Someone sent McCall white roses with a threat written on the note."

"The young woman checks out. She's on the list of volunteers, has an ID badge, and the nurses have even introduced us. She said the flowers were at her station when she returned from her break. She didn't see who left them. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"That's okay."

"Is Sergeant McCall okay?" Lewis was concerned.

"She'll be fine. Thanks." Rick stepped back inside the room as his temper rose. "Son of a bitch. How the hell did they know how to find you?"

"I don't know." Dee Dee's anger overpowered any fear she could gained from reading the note. "And at the moment I really don't care. I'm not going to let him get to me. They're only words and a bunch of flowers." She sighed heavily. "I'm just really tired of this maniac playing with us like this."

"I know. I'm tired of him or them, too." Rick exhaled with aggravation, then returned to the bed and pulled DeeDee close to him. "You sure you're doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. This whole mess is just too damned weird." She shook her head in despair. "Let's just go. I want to get out of here."

Rick kissed her forehead, pulled himself away from her and went to the door. "Lewis. See what the ETA is on that wheelchair."

As DeeDee signed the last of the paperwork, Sierra Daniels walked in with a wheelchair.

"Hey, Sierra." DeeDee greeted her with a smile. "What are you doing up here? Things slow in the ER?"

"A little slow, but my shifts over anyway. I wanted to check in on you before I headed home, and I found out you're leaving. So, I decided to be your chauffer. We can all leave out together." Nurse Daniels stood smiling behind the wheelchair. "Hop in. You can let Rick sit in your lap." She added with a wink.

"Hey, that sounds like fun!" Rick said with a childlike excitement. "Can I? Can I ride on your lap?" His silly behavior was intended to cause DeeDee to laugh. It worked.

"No, you cannot." DeeDee chuckled as added as she moved from the bed into the chair. "I've suffered enough, and I don't want to add broken legs to the list. You either walk, or have Sierra get you your own chair."

Rick looked at Sierra. "Well, do I get my own chair?"

Ummm….no. "Sierra smiled. "But, you can put yourself to good use and push the cart full of Dee Dee's get well gifts."

"Yes, Madame." Rick bowed deeply at the waist and rose with a broad smile on his face. "It would be my pleasure."

After thanking Sierra for everything she had done they left the hospital.

"It's great to be outside again," McCall remarked as she took a deep breath of the fresh air.

In the car, McCall noticed they were going the wrong way. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"You and I are gonna stay at a safe house until this is over. I'm not letting you out of my sight whether you like it or not."

"How are we supposed to work on this case while we're there?"

"We're not: at least not as actively as before."

"Great. I should be out there looking for Jason."

"Me, too. But this guy is after you and he might be after me as well, so Charlie thinks it's better if we stay out of sight for a while."

Hunter pulled into the drive of a small but cozy looking beach house.

"No one but Charlie knows we're here," he said before helping her out the car and inside the house.

He picked up the phone to let Charlie know they had arrived safely.

"Sporty called. He asked around about the buckle but nothing yet," Charlie informed him. "He did say some of the people he asked reacted funny when he showed them the design, as if they were afraid of telling him anything. He said he'd keep trying."

"Okay thanks Charlie."

"What's up?" McCall wanted to know, after Hunter hung up the phone.

"Sporty asked around about the buckle design, but most people he asked were afraid to tell him anything. I wonder what we're up against."

"I can't even remember talking to Sporty about this. I can remember vaguely being there and him asking if I was okay," McCall tried to put some pieces of that nights puzzle together.

"Yeah, he called me right after you had left," Hunter admitted.

"That whole night is one big blur to me. I really don't remember everything I did; just little flashes like being at Sporty's."

"It will come back in time. In the meantime you are putting your feet up on that incredibly comfortable couch over there while I'll fix us a decent cup of coffee and a snack."

"Now you're talking."

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Harrington's Compound

Jason was awakened by a voice; the friendly voice of a woman. "Mom?" he said trying to focus his sleepy eyes on the person standing over him.

"I'm not your mom. My name is Linda. I brought you something to eat. You must be hungry."

Slowly Jason remembered where he was and that his mom wasn't there. He felt hungry though and Linda seemed nice. "I am hungry," he said softly.

"Good, do you like pancakes for breakfast?"

"Yes!" he jumped out of bed and went to the large table in the middle of the room.

There was a large plate filled with fresh pancakes surrounded by small bowls with all kinds of things to put on them.

"When can I go home?" he asked Linda between bites.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. Do you want anything else?"

"Something to drink please."

Linda left the room to get the drink and Jason took his time to take a good look around the room while eating. Besides all the play stuff, he noticed a PC in the corner. It looked like the one he had at home so he went over to check it out.

'Great,' he thought. 'Maybe I can let someone know where I am this way.'

At that moment Linda walked in with his drink. "Ah, I see you have found the computer. It has some really neat games on it."

"I was just checking them out," Jason said as he started one.

Linda walked over and stood behind him. "The ladder game; that's one of my favorites. I got to level 6 once."

"Yeah, it's fun but it gets more interesting when you reach level 15," Jason replied.

"Sounds like you've played this one before."

"Got it at home."

"I see."

"You know it's more fun playing with two people."

"Now that's an invitation I can't say no to."

Linda grabbed another chair and joined Jason in his game.

Jason found Linda to be much kinder than the two men that grabbed him. He wasn't too anxious to become friends with a stranger; a stranger working with the people that kidnapped him, but he knew he had to earn her trust. He needed enough of it to put his plan into action.

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Sunday

When McCall woke up from her nap, she found that she was still lying on the couch using Hunter's legs as a pillow. The football game on TV apparently wasn't too interesting because her partner was fast asleep. She watched him for a minute or two before waking him. He opened his eyes and yawned.

"What time is it?" he asked

"Bedtime," McCall replied.

"You don't say," he said with a grin and glanced at his watch to check the time. "How did the game end?" he wanted to know.

"How should I know?" she answered with a smirk. "I was sleeping. It must not have been too exciting otherwise you would have stayed awake," she teased him.

"To be honest, it wasn't. Look, it's almost eleven, we'd better turn in. Plenty to do tomorrow."

McCall sat up carefully and Hunter guided her to the only bedroom in the house. It wasn't very large and instead of a double bed it had two singles so Hunter easily pushed them together and McCall smiled.

The next morning Hunter was up early. He checked to see if McCall was still sleeping; which she was, so he headed downstairs. He turned on the coffee machine before calling Charlie to check on new developments.

"Nothing new," Charlie told him. "The mayor and his wife will appear on TV later this morning: they want to make an appeal to the kidnapper."

"Still no word from them?"

"No. How's McCall?"

"Pretty tired - she's still sleeping."

"Give her my love."

"Will do. Talk to you later."

Hunter decided to wake his partner with a nice breakfast in bed.

"This looks wonderful - thanks," she said as she sat up to eat. "Any news on Jason?"

"No, nothing yet. His parents are gonna be on TV later to make another appeal to the kidnapper," he told her, before helping her get situated. He left to get his own tray and settled carefully next to her.

"Poor people," McCall commented between bites, "I can't imagine what they are going through."

"Yeah, I hope the appeal will get a reaction."

"Hmm, that would help."

McCall enjoyed the rest of her breakfast and decided she needed a shower. Hunter took the trays to the kitchen and told her that he'd let her know when the news conference came on.

The hot water worked its magic, making her feel more relaxed. She could be in there for hours but a knock on the door broke the spell.

"The Mayor and his wife are gonna be on in ten minutes."

"I'm almost done," she called through the closed door, reluctant to get out.

Five minutes later McCall came down the stairs dressed in a sweat suit with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Feeling better?" Hunter asked her.

"Yeah, a hot shower does wonders. Are they on yet?"

"Almost; Charlie is introducing them now."

She sat down next to him.

The Mayor and his wife made an emotional appeal asking for a sign that Jason was still alive and that they were prepared to pay a ransom.

"If this doesn't trigger a reaction, I don't know what will," Hunter remarked.

"I just hope he's still alive," McCall said softly.

He understood how she was feeling and couldn't deny he was feeling the same way.

The doorbell snapped them out of their thoughts.

"Who knows we're here?" she asked him.

"Besides Charlie, no one I think," he answered and stood up to open the door.

A young man holding a bouquet of flowers was standing on the other side. "Flowers for a Ms. McCall," he said.

"Thanks," Hunter said hesitantly as he took the flowers and gave the guy a tip.

"Another bouquet?" She eyed him with concern, and seeing him frown only worried her more. "It isn't from you, is it?"

Hunter shook his head. He searched in between the flowers. "Here's the card." McCall stepped over to him, so they could both read it.

You can run but you can't hide and it was signed with the familiar heart and dagger.

"How did he know where we were?" McCall whispered, dumbstruck that the flowers kept coming.

"He might have someone on the inside," Hunter said the words she did not ever want to hear.

Hunter picked up the phone to call Charlie; McCall said nothing and went to the couch feeling shocked and scared. If a safe house wasn't a safe place to be, what was?

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Harrington's Compound

"So our Mayor is willing to pay some money to get his precious son back; interesting," Ethan Harrington turned off the TV and looked at the other two men in the room.

"What does a Mayor make these days?" Dave Harper thought out loud.

"Not enough to give me what I want," Ethan replied and opened a drawer of the desk he was sitting behind. He took out a camera and handed it to Ned, "Get today's newspaper and take a picture of the boy holding it up. Make sure the date is visible. I'll send it to his parents."

"No problem," Ned took the camera and left the room followed by Dave.

Jason was reading a magazine on the bed when the two men came in.

"What's that you're reading?" Dave wanted to know.

"National Geographic," Jason answered.

"Don't kids your age read comic books anymore?" Ned wondered.

"They do but I like this better," Jason replied.

Ned handed Jason the paper, "Hold this up while I take a picture of you. Your folks want to know how you are."

"If you'd let me call them I can tell them myself."

"Sorry, no can do. The boss wants it this way."

Jason did as he was told and held up the paper so Ned could take his pictures.

In his mind, the young boy had made a plan to escape. The first step would be convincing Linda to ask whoever was in charge to let him go outside for a while each day: with a chaperone, of course. Step two would be scanning the surroundings for an escape route. Step three would be getting out of there.

When they were done, Harper and Harrison left the room to take the camera to someone who could develop and print the pictures. Not long after, Linda entered Jason's room. The boy was still sitting on the chair Ned had put him on: the paper on his lap.

"What's up?" she asked as she kneeled before him.

"They took my picture with a newspaper. Are they gonna ask for ransom?"

"I don't know. I can't tell you why you're being held here and how long it's gonna take."

"Okay."

Linda was surprised by his tone; it sounded like he didn't care.

"Do I have to stay in here all the time? Can't I go outside with you for a while?" he asked her.

"I don't think so," Linda answered.

"Can't you ask someone?"

Linda was starting to feel sorry for Jason, being held for something he had no part of and it wasn't his fault.

"I'll see what I can do but I can't make any promises."

"Great!"

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Monday

Hunter was on the phone to Charlie, explaining the situation. McCall could make out parts of the conversation: 'not safe, where to go now, leak in the force or the squad and their decision to attend Shari's funeral'.

'Funeral,' McCall thought. 'Shari's funeral. I really want to be there for Eric.'

Finally Hunter hung up. "Charlie is gonna ask Sporty if he can help. He also thinks it would be best if we didn't go to the funeral."

McCall sighed, "I was afraid he might say that. I really want to go."

"So do I but it's a risk; a big risk."

"I know," she sighed again.

Hunter kneeled in front of her, "Eric knows what's going on, and he'll understand why we can't be there. We can send him a message through Charlie."

"That's better than nothing."

Some time later the phone rang, it was Charlie telling Hunter that Sporty had found them a place to stay. "I gave your location to Sporty and he's gonna come over with the new address. I have to tell you Hunter, I don't feel exactly right using a snitch to find a safe house for you."

"I know, Charlie, but I hope it works. We can't ignore the possibility that there's a leak on the inside. Would you tell Eric we're sorry we can't be there?"

"You decided not to go then?"

"Yeah, we decided it would be better not to."

"Wise decision. I'll make sure he gets the message."

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When he arrived at the house, Sporty knocked on the door. Hunter opened it for him and was greeted with, "Fine mess you got yourselves in. You're lucky you have me."

"In this case, I won't argue with you about that," Hunter replied as he closed the door behind him.

"Thanks for helping us out," McCall said to him.

"Don't thank me. I'll always help my two favorite officers, no matter what."

"So where is this place of yours?" Hunter wanted to know.

"Ah," Sporty reached in his pocket. "Here you go: the address," he handed him a piece of paper.

"Great, and a nice part of town too. I think we should wait until dark before we make a move."

McCall nodded in agreement.

"Until dark? Can't those guys sitting in that car outside accompany you?" Sporty asked.

"What car?" Hunter rushed to the window and saw a dark blue Oldsmobile with two people in it parked across the road. He went back to the phone to call Charlie once more.

"No, I didn't put a car outside the house. What's going on?"

"There's a blue Oldsmobile standing across the road with two men in it.

"Damn," Charlie cursed and was quiet for a few minutes.

"Charlie, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I was thinking. I'm gonna send a car over and let someone in uniform give them a hard time so you can get out of there."

"Nice idea, we'll be ready."

Both Sporty and McCall looked at him expectantly as he hung up, "Charlie's gonna send some guys down here to keep them busy while we get out. We'd better pack."

Five minutes later they were ready to go. Hunter looked out the window to see if backup had arrived yet. Not one but two police cars were blocking the blue car's way and the two men were being questioned.

"Okay, let's go."

They put everything in the car, got in and drove off, leaving the two men frustrated at not being able to follow them. Sporty looked back.

"They don't look too happy."

"Do you think they're gonna have to explain why we escaped?" McCall remarked with a smile.

A short drive later, Hunter pulled up in front of a simple but neat looking house in a nice quiet neighborhood.

Sporty looked out of the car window. "Welcome to my grandmother's house, God rest her soul,"