Chapter 16

Nick and Warrick approached the side of the golf club; they had no idea what they were going to walk in to see. They just hoped that it wouldn't be too grim. No training could prepare them to see one of their closest colleagues becoming their latest vic.

They opened the door and walked into a room which was laid out like a gallery in an operating theatre where junior doctors could observe a procedure being done for educational purposes.

Confused they groped around in the dark and found seats. They both kept their guns out ready for any situation.

They looked around trying to work out what was going on.

"What the Hell is this place?" Nick whispered to Warrick not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to them.

"I don't know man, but I don't like it one little bit" Warrick said tentatively.

"Gentlemen, I am so glad you could join us", a voice said coming through speakers at the back of the room.

Nick walked up to the glass and banged his fists on it saying "where the Hell are you? Come out and show yourself like a real man".

"All in good time Mr. Stokes, please remain in your seat," the voice continued.

Warrick got up and put his hand on Nick's shoulder, "best to do what he says for now Nick, we don't want him to do something irrational, not when we don't know what he has done with Sara" he whispered.

Nick said down slowly, he hated this waiting game. He wanted to know where Sara was so he could at least try and save her before it was too late.

"Ok we are here now; you have our attention, let us know that Sara is ok." Warrick said in a neutral non-threatening tone.

"It would be my pleasure Mr Brown", Dave replied while turning on the neon light which revealed Sara strapped to the metal slab, with marks on her torso of where he was going to make the incisions in which to remove her organs.

"Sara!" Nick and Warrick both screamed together.

"Jesus, what have you done to her?" Nick shouted.

"I haven't done anything to her yet, Mr Stokes, just prepped the body for the autopsy, that's all. What fun would it have been to do it without an audience?"

"Sara, Sara, can you hear us? It's Warrick and Nick, you need to get out of there Sara," Nick shouted in desperation at the glass.

"She can't hear you Nick, she is unconscious. I just hope it won't stop her from feeling anything that would be no fun at all" Dave said.

"You sick bastard, why are you doing this?" Nick asked.

"Why? Why Mr Stokes? You really have to ask such a stupid question? Well let me explain it to you, while I wait for my friend to get here to assist in the autopsy. See Nick, only living people have working organs, and blood running through their veins, I suppose that is what sets us apart from the dead really", he paused as if to consider what he had just said, "and as we both know Sara is and has been dead on the inside for a very long time.

When was the last time you saw her display any kind of emotion? Or act anything less than icy towards people? I know you all just think she is being professional. That word professional seems to cover so much these days; well I don't think it cuts it anymore. Professional shouldn't mean impersonal, cold, cutting and down right rude, they are all the qualities that Sara possesses and that is the only way she knows how to act. She has never treated anyone with an inch of warmth. She has never known sunshine in that eternal Winter garden where she dwells. It is sad really", he concluded with real emotion in his voice. He turned to look at her where she slept peacefully.

During this speech Warrick had slipped out the door they had entered, he had to find the door to the makeshift theatre in order to save Sara's skin. He had told Nick to keep Dave busy in the meantime.

"So what has all that got to do with slicing her apart?" Nick asked trying to keep Dave busy thus biding Warrick some valuable time.

"Because you thick jock, if the living are supposed to have living organs and blood flowing through their veins, then obviously the dead aren't. And although Sara has a pulse that is the only thing that distinguishes her from the dead, that and at the moment she has healthy organs which work perfectly well. Something that I am going to change so she will slowly bleed out and finally join the land of the dead where she will fit in so well. Do you finally get it? I am going to help her get to the place she most wants to be, away from the likes of us people with real emotion, warmth and love."

"Good God, this guy thinks he is doing her a favour by killing her? He really is nuts", Nick thought to himself.

There was still no sign of Warrick or this doctor that Dave kept talking about; Nick wondered what he would talk to Dave about now. The more time he could stall him for the more chance Warrick had of getting in there and saving Sara.

Nick felt like a negotiator in a hostage situation, the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end and sweat trickled down his back. He knew that he was the difference between Sara being cut open or not, he had to come up with something to keep this crazy guy talking about.

"So who is this doctor you are expecting? Why do you need him?" Nick asked.

"You don't know him; he is just a friend of mine who is adept in the ways of surgery. I want to make sure I don't make a fatal incision in one of the major arteries that would kill her too quickly. I want this to be as slow as painful as it has been for me made me since she rejected me", he said bitterly.

"Now we are getting to the heart of the matter", Nick thought to himself.

"Have you talked to Sara about this?" Nick asked his tone softer this time. He had changed from negotiator to therapist.

"She didn't want to know", Dave said sulkily. He reminded Nick of a teenager who had been turned down by everyone for the Senior Prom.

"But you tried talking to her right? Sara can be quite stubborn, sometimes you have to tell her things more than once for her to get the message. She can be a bit self-involved you know?" Nick continued cautiously.

"You think so too? I thought it was just me that thought that. She is so damn stubborn, all the time I worked with you guys she never even noticed me, then when she did finally notice it was too late. I asked her out and she laughed in my face Nick. Do you know how that feels?" Dave asked softly, more introspective now than before.

"Well of course you don't know," he said laughing softly to himself. "You are the handsome jock with the sexy Southern drawl that all women love; I bet you have never been rejected in your whole life. Am I right?"

"Bull's-eye" Nick thought.

"Actually, I have been rejected once Dave."

"Yeah?" Dave asked looking up at Nick now, feeling some kind of bond with him all of a sudden.

"Yeah sure I have buddy", Nick continued desperately trying to earn his trust.

"In fact you probably aren't going to believe this when I tell you", Nick said.

"Try me", Dave said more interested now.

"Well, it's a bit embarrassing man to tell you the truth, but the only woman who has ever turned me down is the same woman that turned you down".

"Really?" Dave asked visibly shocked by this admission.

"Straight up man", Nick continued. "I wasn't long in the job and I thought Sara was a real stunner, so I asked her to go to a basketball game with me, and she flat out turned me down. She thought I was a jock and because of that I was evidently stupid in her eyes. She laughed at me man, it was hard to take. But I had to swallow that for the sake of my career, it eats me up every day. So you see man, I understand where you are coming from. She has got away with it one time too many, she has to learn right?" Nick finished with an angry tone. He just hoped and prayed it had worked.

"Right, exactly Nick, you do get it. I thought I was crazy but I'm not, you really get what I am saying, why I have to go to such extreme measures to show her what she is doing to guys can't be tolerated anymore. You understand, you understand." Dave said the words very fast, almost more to himself than to Nick.

"I do understand Dave, I really do, and I think that Sara needs to be taught a lesson for once and for all. Look, I might be completely out of line here, but as your good friend the doctor hasn't shown up, why don't I come down there and help you finish the bitch off? We will show her good and proper Dave."

"Please God make it have been enough" Nick prayed pleadingly.

"You would do that?" Dave asked uncertainly.

"Are you kidding me? I have been looking for a reason to show that bitch right from wrong ever since she blew me off, but I never had a golden opportunity like this before. We have to move quickly though Dave, I don't know how much longer we have before Brass and the others get here".

"Shit, I hadn't thought of that, we need to get going", Dave said picking up the scalpel and running it along Sara's taut stomach. Just as he was about to make the first incision above her liver, Nick said "Hey man, you gonna have all the fun? Come on, let me help. You know you can't do it on your own. You need someone to hold the bitch down if she comes round. Let me be your right hand man".

"Emm, I'm not sure, can I trust him?" Dave asked himself uncertainly. "It is better than no-one, I will need someone when she wakes up which will more than likely be when I make the first cut."

He hesitated then finally said "ok but I am trusting you Nick, that isn't something I do lightly, but I do need your help on this one".

"Ok now you're talking" Nick said, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He had no idea where Warrick had got to; he would have to worry about him afterwards. He just hoped that Dave didn't notice Warrick was missing, up to this Nick had been lucky.