Chapter Two

Sorry I have been a while updating, been busy. Anyway, here goes chapter two. I'm not actually that sure where I'm going with this story so I would appreciate any feedback.

The offices were unusually quiet. A lot of the team were out on the operation at hand, gathering forensic evidence at the place the last victim of the case was found or assisting the FBI in trying to catch the kidnapper at the same place. It was half eight in the evening. Half an hour until he was 'due' to strike again. Mac sat at his desk, chewing his pen. This case was really getting to him. He had never before felt so defeated. He felt like a sitting duck, just sitting around, waiting. No doubt the rest of the team felt the same, particularly the female members. It was his job to hold them all together, and this, he decided, was what he was going to try his hardest to do. He looked at the file on his desk. On the cover was a green post-it note, with Lindsay's name written in Stella's handwriting. Grateful for an excuse to leave his office, Mac picked up the file and walked briskly out, closing the door definitely behind him.

Lindsay was sat at her usual desk, writing something on a note pad. Her face was creased up in concentration. He stopped for a moment in the doorway, watching her. There was something in her eyes that told him she was worried about something. He made his way over to her desk and cleared his throat. She jumped and looked up.

"Oh, er, hey Mac," she said, flicking her blonde hair out of her eyes.

He smiled and laid the file on her desk.

"Stella left this for you," he said, peeling of the post-it note. He rolled it into a little ball and aimed at the waste bin. It went straight in.

Lindsay's eyes followed it, and then flitted back to Mac who was still standing in front of her.

"Was…there something else?"

Mac looked vaguely surprised and shook his head. He hadn't realized he was still standing there.

"Er…yeah…are you ok?"

Lindsay looked blankly at him.

"Ok? I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She fiddled with some drawing pins on her desk, putting all the blue ones together, then all the red and green.

Mac watched her closely and leant against the wall.

"It's just, you seem kinda….nervous, I guess."

She looked up and smiled.

"Mac, really, I'm fine. I think everyone is just feeling really drained right now."

It was clear that this was all he was going to get out of her, and it disappointed him. He thought Lindsay trusted him enough to talk to him. She was still messing about with her drawing pins.

"Ok, well you know if you need to talk…."

She smiled again.

"Thanks Mac."

He strode back across the offices, something still bothering him.

Lindsay sat quietly at her desk, trying to work out her boss. Mac was nice, and really sweet at times. He could also be a complete loser at times, and the guy was an emotional rollercoaster at times, but something about him made her feel really comfortable. Before this case, she and Mac had gotten quite close, but it seemed to be getting in the way at the moment. She hadn't really thought about him much lately. Glancing at her clock, she decided that there wasn't much else she could do today. She felt a bit like an extra tool, or an onlooker. The rest of the team had decided that it was safer for her and Stella to keep a low profile for a few days, so she had been stuck in the office for hours. She collected her things and pulled her coat on. She was just locking the door to the office when a hand was clamped firmly over her mouth.

Mac was just about to sit back down at his desk when he spotted a few papers near the door of his office. He picked them up and glanced briefly at them. They were part of the file he had just given Lindsay. Cursing, he began to walk back to her office. The building seemed eerily quiet. There were a few fans around blowing air around the rooms, but they didn't really make It any cooler, just stuffy. The papers in his hand rustled as he passed one, and a light above his head flickered. As he looked up at it, he noticed that the CCTV camera had black tape over it. It was the one opposite Lindsay's office. When he looked down the hall he saw that most of the camera's had been taped over.

He knocked on Lindsay's door but there was no answer. The light was off but the door was slightly ajar. Lindsay was not inside.

Mac called Danny, who came out of a room down the corridor.

"What up boss?"

"You seen Lindsay?"

Mac looked concerned, standing with his hands on his hips.

"No, not since….bout an hour ago." Danny glanced at the clock on the wall, then noticed the cameras.

"Boss, why are the camera's all taped up?"

Mac and Danny looked at each other, then at the door of Lindsay's office. Danny stepped forwards slowly and removed the keys from the lock.

"Mac?" he held them in his hand and didn't look up. Mac walked into the office and looked at the desk. It was neat and tidy, everything in it's rightful place. Except for the envelope with his name on it.

Aware of Danny at his side, Mac slowly opened the envelope. It was like the others, he remembered as the sickening feeling hit him. The handwriting was the same too.

He unfolded the paper inside and read the short message.

'Right from under your nose.'

There was a short silence.

"Oh man." Danny's hand flew to his forehead, whilst Mac just read the message again. He leaned against the desk for support, dumbstruck.

The cameras.

The keys in the door.

The note.

She was gone. He had her. Right from under his nose.