Sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter

Mac watched Jack walk out. He hated being left behind and to be left behind when Cory was in danger was intolerable. He understood the need to obey orders and he understood Thornton's and Jack's position. He even understood that his presence would put the team in danger. Nothing that he understood with his head helped make him feel any better about watching his team get into a car and drive away

Mac's phone vibrated with a. text message. Thinking that Riley or Jack has a question, Mac pulled the phone from his pocket. "Sugar and Spice and everything nice. Is that what Little Girls are made of? Let's look inside and find out." The signature was familiar. "Bill Shake S. Peare.".

"Oh my God," Mac whispered to himself. The threat to Cory was crystal clear as was the implicit call out to Mac. He had no choice but to find Suspect 218 and face him. Mac just hoped that he would get there in time to save Cory and his friends.

Cory opened her eyes…at least she thought that her eyes were open. It was as dark as it was behind her eyelids. Cory's head ached and she felt nauseous. She was sure that she had been drugged, not only hit. Her first truly coherent thought again went to her older brother. He had been right. Had she put him in danger by her stubbornness? She knew the answer to that – of course she had. She needed to get out and to let him know that she was safe. She was clearly bait; this assassin, and she had no doubt of the identity of her captor, was going to use her. She stopped…use her for what? With a sickening certainty, she knew – he would kill her brother.

The thought caused a surge of visceral panic to shoot through her body. She had to do something. She couldn't just wait. Cory tried to move and realized several things all at the same time; she was in a very small, enclosed space, her hands and feet were bound, and she hurt everywhere. Fighting another jolt of panic, she forced herself to be calm and to take stock of her situation. Where was she? It was close and cramped. She felt something rough on her face. She sniffed carefully, did she smell gasoline? She was in car…more specifically, in the trunk of a car.

Her mouth was dry and she tried to lick her lips, only to figure out that she was also gagged. That should not have surprised her, she thought cynically. Cory tried to move her arms and realized that they were bound in front of her. Her heart leapt at the first positive development in a while. She carefully brought her hands to her face. It took some doing, but she was able to peel the tape of her mouth.

Relieved she licked her lips with a dry tongue, which brought no relief. She used her teeth the tear off the tape holding her hands together. "That was easy," she thought in relief.

Loosening the bonds on her legs proved more difficult as there was very little room for her to move. She twisted and contorted her body in many ways trying to reach the tape on her legs. Finally, after much straining, she was able to get her fingers under the tape and pull. Fifteen minutes later she was finally free.

Jack drove the car with focused intensity. He was painfully aware that he had hurt Mac by not letting him come along and was just as aware that he had done the right thing; now if his head and his heart agreed, he's feel a hell of a lot better. Something was bothering Jack. Something at the back of the agent's head was screaming that it all felt wrong and that he was missing something important. Something that would make a difference.

He, Riley and Thornton arrived at the landfill and carefully stepped out of the car. Jack and Thornton had their weapons ready as they scanned the area, but saw nothing threatening. Jack continued to scan, his nerves were singing and he was trying to remain calm and focused. Something was wrong...something was going to happen...

Mac ran to his car and gunned the engine out of the Phoenix parking lot. How long had it been since he received the text? Would the rest of the team already be at the landfill. A cold realization hit Mac. They were also part of the bait – not just Cory. If he did not get there on time, they would die...they would all die. Mac stared at the road ahead and floored the accelerator praying that he was not going to be too late.

Lying on her side in the darkness, Cory was trying to plan her next move. If the car was newer – the last fifteen years or so, it had a child release lever somewhere inside – all cars did...she just needed to find it. Her hands slowly passed along the floor and sides of the trunk searching for something that could be a latch.

Slowly, methodically, Cory worked around the cramped inside of the car. Her fingers tangled in something. She stopped and tried to determine what she was holding. Wires. Coated wires. There were maybe three or four of them. She gently traced their path and realized that they ran from outside into the trunk and that her captor had shut the trunk pinching the wires. That seemed careless and odd...and speaking of careless...something did not seem right. Her captor, had made it very easy for her to undo her bindings; if he had wanted to really restrain her, he would have pinned her hands in back. Why did he not do that? It seemed odd.

Why put her in the trunk, knowing that she would be able to get out of the restraints and escape. What would be the point. If she was bait, he would want to hold on to her, wouldn't he? And how careless is he to have let those wires be caught.

Nothing made sense. Something about the bunch of wires was tripping a memory. Something that Mac had told her about his time in the Army disarming bombs. She stopped to focus in order to pull that memory forward.

Carefully, slowly Jack approached the car followed by Thornton and Riles. He still neither saw nor heard anything that posed a threat and that is what scared him most. The doors were closed, but the windows were rolled down. Jack looked inside, but it was empty. His gaze raked over the car and landed on the trunk. Was it possible? He quickly made his way over and knelt down. He tried to listen, but heard nothing.

"Cory?" He called out quietly. "Cory, are you in there? Its Jack. It'll be OK. Everything will be OK. We'll get you out."

Cory heard a familiar voice and was jolted out of her reverie. The memory was so close to the surface now. It just needed one more push. "Jack?" She responded. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Cory. Its me. I brought some friends. We'll get you out in a minute. Just hold on. I just have to figure out how to jimmy this lock. Jack put the safety on his gun and slipped it back into the holster taking out a pocket knife. "I think I can pick the lock on the trunk and have you out of here in minute..." Jack stopped in mid sentence. "There are some wires stuck in here. We'll bag them for evidence once I've got you out."

Just as Jack was reaching for the lock, the memory came flooding back to Cory in full force. Mac telling her about his bomb disposal duties in Afghanistan and describing in detail what he saw. Everything then made perfect, horrible sense. "No!," Cory screamed at the top of her lungs.

What did you all think? I was trying to go for changing perspective. Did it work? Please let me know your thoughts and I am always grateful for your reviews and the time that you take to read my story.