I live! I have been slacking off lately, and I feel like I didn't do as well on this chapter as I could have (It's kind of short, but it's the best I could do). I'd like to once again thank my most loyal reader, Fallen Angel, and a new reviewer, OrpheumZero, who was a doll and rated each individual chapter. He's a man after my own heart, he is. Anyway, I promise it gets really interesting after this, so please bear with me.
Chapter Eight
"Fifteen minutes…" Lisa sighed out of nowhere as they hurriedly searched the rest of the first floor.
"What?" Barry's patience was running even thinner than before. He was flinging open doors, hurriedly scanning each room and slamming the door shut in frustration.
"That's how long we have before the first bomb goes off."
"Yeah well…it's just the first. It probably won't do this old building any favors, but at least we'll still have time to find Rachel. Plus I just called for back-up. They should be here any time now."
"Good…and you know, this building's not that big. That's a plus."
"Well…" Barry checked his cell phone for the fifth time in the past minute. "That's part of the problem. It's not like they'd just stick her in a room where we'd very easily find her. There's gotta be another trap somewhere."
"Yeah…I guess you're right," Lisa reluctantly agreed. "It's probably just a matter of time before the other shoe drops."
The pair stepped into the second floor patient wing where a handful of rooms remained to be searched, as well as something else they weren't counting on, stampeding in their direction from the opposite end of the hall.
"Speaking of the other shoe, here it comes now," Lisa said.
"You!" Stanley Coleman approached them, out of breath from running, still clutching the gun he had mysteriously acquired. He eyed Lisa with intense hatred.
"I thought I told you to stay away from Rachel, you psycho," he snarled.
"I should be saying the same thing to you," Lisa shot back. "You'd better get the hell out while you still can, Stanley."
"No way. Not until I find her. I'm going to be the one to save her, not you two. At any rate, I think I have a better chance of finding her. I know this place inside and out. In fact, I might know where she is right now."
"You know where Rachel is?" Lisa had him by the collar now, practically throttling him as she shook him. "You'd better fucking tell us if you know something."
"Hey, get your hands off me, you crazy bitch!" Stanley broke loose and shoved her, sending her crashing into the wall behind her.
"Hey, stop this right now." Barry promptly subdued Stanley, putting an end to the debacle. "This isn't getting us anywhere."
"You're right." Stanley straightened out his clothes. "I'm sorry."
"Whatever." Barry dragged a hand down his face. "She does have a point though, Stanley. If you know something, you've gotta help us out." That was when he noticed for the first time the rolled up paper that Stanley clutched. "What's that?"
Stanley looked down at the papers as if he'd forgotten he was holding them. "I…I found this in Ernest's office. You can look at it if you want."
Doubtfully Barry took it, a message in familiar flawless handwriting on crumpled notebook paper:
I think it goes without saying that my previous messages were for Rachel's eyes only, but I cannot reach her now. I know that you are her only hope, so I will tell you what I know. Without going into too much detail, I know the events that will unfold here today. I can safely assure you that Rachel will not die, but someone has to. This fate, and the person whom it will befall, depends on your actions. I cannot intervene any further, but I trust you will know what to do.
"Rachel's stalker…" Barry breathed. "Whoever this is, they're in the hospital. They're here now."
"Stalker?" Lisa said, raising frightened eyes to him. "Who is this person?"
"We don't know. Whoever it is has been leaving anonymous letters for Rachel off and on for a week now. We can't trace 'em."
"You stupid asshole!" Lisa suddenly exploded, pummeling his chest with both fists. "That nut job could be the one who's behind all this, and you couldn't catch them? You're the worst cop ever!"
"Lisa…" He grumbled through clenched teeth as he restrained her, struggling with her for a moment before she surrendered. A moment later, the sound of a door opening nearby caught their attention.
"That'd better be McDaniel, and he'd better have a whole damn SWAT team with him…" Barry muttered as he stormed with Lisa in tow to the front reception area.
"Thank God…" he sighed when he spotted the middle-aged captain. "You're not gonna believe this. All of the patients and staff have disappeared and someone set up some bombs and there's a crazy guy running around here and he kidnapped Rachel and shot me in the hand and tied me up and locked me in a room but I'm okay now." He took a much-needed breath, and looked disgusted when McDaniel smiled.
"Well I drove through the fence outside but you don't hear me bragging," he said.
"Don't laugh! This isn't funny! Rachel's in trouble! Come on man, it's Rachel!"
"That's precisely why I'm not worried. It's Rachel we're talking about. That girl can fall in a bucket of shit and come out smelling like a rose." As he spoke, McDaniel directed Barry to a bench by the door, where the detective reluctantly sat. "You already told me everything, remember? I've got everything under control. The bomb squad's on their way as we speak. We're gonna find her and get this taken care of, so you just relax."
Barry drew a shaky breath and fought back the tears that burned at the corner of his eyes. He kept his head down until he felt he had regained his composure, but his pulse skyrocketed once again when the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang through the empty halls. His eyes shot up in time to see a spray of blood spew from McDaniel's back. Two more shots followed; both of which striking the captain in the back of the head. Barry shook himself out of his stupor long enough to lunge forward and catch him as he fell to his knees.
"Hank! Oh God…" Barry let the fatally wounded captain fall gently into a prone position. His body gradually went slack, and a fine trickle of blood dribbled from his mouth onto the floor. Barry sank weakly back onto the bench, clutching his head in his hands
"Where did those shots come from?" Lisa asked, sounding more like a seasoned officer than a former nurse. She peered around the corner, taking care to shield the majority of her body behind the wall as she did so.
"Hey…where's Stanley?"
Barry wearily raised his head, no longer concerned with hiding his grief. "What do you mean? He's been with us the whole time."
"Uh…no he hasn't. I haven't heard or even seen him since the patient wing back there. He's such a coward anyway, he probably ran off and hid somewhere."
"Okay, well, whatever. Right now our top priority is-"
Just then, a massive explosion emanated from above them, rattling the ceiling hard enough to send a fine mist of plaster dust raining down on them.
"Fuck…there goes the first one," Barry muttered, shielding his eyes from the dust. "Come on, we've gotta go." He grabbed Lisa by the wrist and started off in a random direction when the sound of his radio going off alerted him.
"Oh my God…Rachel? Rachel, it's Barry. Can you hear me?"
"I'm sorry…Miss Goren is a bit tied up right now," Ernest's voice crackled over the radio.
"Ernest! How did you…?"
"We've jacked the line," the director answered calmly.
"You killed him, didn't you?"
"If you're talking about that nuisance cop, I didn't kill him. I didn't even give the order. But I am breathing easier now that he is no longer breathing."
"Fucker. I'll be sure you're the next to go."
"How very interesting. Rachel and I will be right here waiting for you."
"Rachel! She's there with you?"
"Of course. But don't you worry. I'm taking good care of her for you. And I'll be certain to fill you in if any interesting developments arise."
"Fuck you! I'm gonna find her, and when I do your ass is mine!"
"I'll hold you to that. Now, intermission is over. On with the show."
"Bastard." Barry cut off the transmission and holstered the radio, grabbing Lisa by the wrist and pulling her to the elevator. "Come on, we've gotta hurry."
Just then, another hailstorm of gunfire caught their attention, this one seeming to come from somewhere outside.
"What the hell?" He quickly switched direction, nearly jerking Lisa's arm out of its socket in the process, and the two dashed out the front doors. There they bore witness to a handful of bomb squad members falling victim to a storm of bullets raining down from an unseen location.
"Get down!" Barry tackled Lisa to the ground, shielding her with his body until the gunshots halted. By this time all six of the men lay dead in the street.
"Sniper…?" He slowly stood up and kept moving as he scanned the roof of the building. There was no one to be seen.
"What are they doing?" Lisa asked, remaining where she was on the ground.
"I don't know, but if we don't keep moving we could be next. Come on, let's go back inside." He reached out to take her hand, and in doing so was struck swiftly in the neck by something.
"Ow! What the hell?" He swatted at his neck, sending something clattering to the steps.
"What is that? It's not a bullet." Lisa reached for it, and held up what looked like a small syringe.
"A tranquilizer dart?" Barry reached out to take it from her, and as he did so noticed that his vision was becoming blurry. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face.
"What's wrong?" Lisa's words sounded garbled in his ears, and he unconsciously staggered away from her as she tried to catch him.
"Barry? Barry, can you hear me? Don't leave me alone!" Her pleas echoed into oblivion, following him down as he collapsed to the ground.
