Really wanted to get this chapter up fast. i hope you enjoy. I wanted a little more background on the type of person that Cory is.
Mac and Jack were making good time on the freeway, but Jack noticed that his partner was still pre-occupied.
"Hey," he gently nudged the blond. "Are you OK."
It seemed that Mac was worlds away and it took him several minutes to realize that he was being asked a question and to reply. He took a deep breath and spoke.
"I guess so. I still wish we could have made Cory come with us. I know that she is trained, but I..."
Jack smiled. "I hear ya, Brother," he said with feeling. "I have only known your sister for about two hours, but I don't think that you could have made her do anything that she didn't want to do. You know, I'm not a profiler, but she just didn't strike me as the type."
Jack was rewarded by hearing Mac's gentle chuckle. "God, Jack. You've no idea. When she was twelve, Bozer and I - we were about fifteen or sixteen then - planned to go camping. It was November and cold. I told Cory that she could not come – that it was too long a hike and too cold. That it would not be safe for her." Mac actually laughed a little. "God. She was so mad. You should have seen the look in her eyes; she would have chewed nails if she could...Anyway. We went and left her behind. We'd hiked fifteen miles into the woods and set up. We had a fire going and were ready to bed down. We'd heard rustling in the forest. We knew it couldn't be animals, because of the fire, but something was there. We both got sticks and walked toward the noise. Just then, Cory stumbled into the clearing. She had followed us. Full pack and everything. She had hiked the last five miles in the dark."
Jack was impressed. "Twelve?"
"Yeah," Mac said. "She was a little dehydrated and pretty scraped up and bruised from a couple of falls that she had taken, but she had done it. She's found us." Mac fell silent as he recalled, how she had run to him and how he had pulled her into a hug, just happy that she was OK; how he had felt her tremble – she had been scared, but she would never admit it. Mac continued, "We were all in so much trouble when got back the next day. Mrs. Bozer had found Cory's note, but she was sure that Cory would get lost. She accused us of goading her and Cory was in trouble for running off. We were all grounded for a month." Jack heard the smile in Mac's voice. "But I sure as hell, never tried to make my sister do anything."
Then Mac's voice got grimmer. "But this is different. Whoever this guy is, he got to Bozer..."
"But Bozer is not a trained agent, she is," Jack interrupted with more certainty than he actually felt.
Mac just grunted non-committaly.
"Look," Jack continued wanting to pull his friend from his mood. "Call her. Make sure that she's OK."
Mac checked his watch. "Its after midnight. She'll kill me if I wake her up. I'll call her tomorrow morning when she is getting ready for work. At this point, that's only five hours away."
Five hours later, Mac was staring at his cell phone as if it was one of the bombs that he had to defuse. He had been calling Cory for half an hour straight and the fact that she had neither called nor texted had him more worried than he wanted to admit.
"We need to go back and check on her," Mac told Jack when the clock hit 6 am. Its not like her. Maybe he...," Mac could not finish.
"No," Jack cut him off. "He would have called to taunt you. Keeping quiet is not his MO...Maybe she just forgot her phone...or its broken...or...," Jack's voice trailed off – this was exactly the same conversation they were having about Bozer; and that had almost turned out very badly. "I'll drive," Jack said as the two men ran toward the car.
In traffic, the drive was agonizingly slow and they did not reach the condo until almost 7. Mac ran to the front door and punched in the code. Both men took the steps two at a time and reached the apartment at the same time.
Mac reached for the door, but Jack knocked his hand away and shook his head emphatically. He motioned Mac to take a position flat against the wall on one side of the door as he took the opposite side. With gun in hand and the safety off, Jack reached for the door. It opened the moment he touched it.
Jack heard Mac draw a breath, but when he looked up, his partner was calm, although Jack could read the tension well enough to know how concerned Mac really was. Opening the door further, Jack led with his gun and Mac followed.
It was a small apartment and took only a few minutes to check everything. Mac was trying to concentrate on his job.
"The bed's been slept in," he stated the obvious. He looked at the pillow and his heart sank. "Jack," he called out. "Look." On the snow white pillow case, there was a splattering of tiny spots – reddish brown in color.
"It doesn't mean anything," Jack said, knowing that it was a lie. They both knew exactly what it meant.
"Oh my God," breathed Mac, in despair.
Just then, his cell phone vibrated.
I wanted Cory to be brave and smart and stubborn, but sometimes those traits lead to bad decisions - like in this case. She probably should have gone with Mac. What do you think of the chapter and the character development? It seems like some lovely people left feedback for Chapter 2, but for some reason I cannot see them in . If you left feedback - thank you. Hopefully this has been fixed. I love it when people comment and share their thoughts, so thank you in advance for taking the time to do so.