Thanks for the reviews. Here's Chapter 7...
Monica screamed as loud as she could, which wasn't very loud, thanks to the tape fixed over her mouth, in an attempt to give John some idea of what he was about to walk into. He didn't hear her. In fact, if Brad hadn't shoved a gun to his temple and clapped a sweaty yet firm hand over his mouth, John would have yelled for his life.
Sadly, John was soon in the same predicament as Monica. His eyes widened in shock and were soon dripping with pain as he first laid eyes on Monica, tied up and looking so utterly defeated. His guilt instantly kicked in: What was I thinking leaving her alone like this? This is all my fault… I told her I was going to protect her and look what happened? John could tell from Monica's glance that she didn't want him to feel guilty, but he couldn't help it. He had come there that night with far different intentions, only to have them smashed in a fight for his and his partner's (and best friend's) lives.
They shot nervous glances at each other that both said "What are we supposed to do now?" Then they both looked away, ashamed that neither had a good solution. Moments later they would look back again in a show of support. Brad watched them, clearly amused.
"Well, sorry to break up your little silent party here, but as I've already told Monica, here's the situation: I'm going to kill Monica right here and right now if you don't agree to drop the case and destroy all the evidence against me. And if I ever see any sign of you breaking the agreement, which, face it, I will, considering my authority over you, I will track both of you down and kill you. Understand?"
John and Monica both nodded.
"Good then. Tomorrow morning I will have a copy of a report on your desk coming to your conclusions in the case – conclusions that stay away from me. I will instruct Agent Scully to hand this report in to AD Skinner and I will hold you here until she completes the task to ensure she does as I say. Then I will leave and you will never breathe another word of this case to anyone, anywhere. Until then, it's going to be a long night, so I suggest you get some sleep," he said while approaching them with two needles.
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When John and Monica awoke the next day, they were surprised to find they were alone and untied. Both of them awoke extremely groggy, although the sun was already high in the sky, meaning they had slept for well over 12 hours.
"Oh God Mon," John said as she hugged him tightly. "I was so worried about you…"
"John," Monica managed to get out through her tears. "I was so scared John, I thought he was going to kill me."
"It's okay; it's going to be okay," John tried to comfort her.
"But John it's not okay!" Monica was sobbing. "He won; he got away with this again! Someone is still out there suffering and we can't do anything!"
"Come on Mon, I know you aren't going to give up that easily. We can still find her."
"How John? He'll kill us. I know he means what he says too – that wasn't just an empty threat. His reputation is too important for him to not get whatever he wants with none of the consequences."
"We'll just have to be more careful this time," John said. "Let's pretend things are back on track – take another case, get our lives back to normal, but we can secretly get him. I know we can."
John's confidence inspired Monica. "Why the hell not," she concluded. "But first things first, I need to know that Jane is safe. I was supposed to pick her up yesterday."
John watched as Monica got up to reconnect the phone and call her friend. He was amazed at her strength. It was one of the many things he admired about her, and now it was back to stay.
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Brad whipped his head around quickly to make sure no one was following him. He had gotten in the habit of doing that a lot lately, especially when he was walking towards his second apartment. As usual, the coast was clear. There was only a chubby blonde in sweatpants plodding along slowly behind him, listening to her CD player. She looked rather familiar, perhaps one of the residents of the building he had seen before. He quickly ducked inside the building and started climbing the stairs two at a time. He stopped in front of apartment number 309 and searched his pockets for his key. Then he opened the door and had vanished inside before he thought anyone had seen him.
But the blonde had seen him. Monica Reyes adjusted her fatsuit and wig.
