Chapter 3: Trapped
Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters
A/N- Thanks so much for reviewing! Keep them coming please!
"Did he tell you anything?" Asked the tall and boney faced man that Nigel had encountered earlier.
"Not yet Mr. Coppole, he's being difficult." Replied the man Nigel had dubbed 'Ugly bald guy'
"What use are you to me if you can't even make one little geek talk Rafeek?" Coppole roared.
"Sir, we're trying every method in the book. The dweeb just isn't responding."
"Its lucky for you, I had a back up plan. We have to get the information out of him before boss gets impatient."
"Is he here yet?" asked Rafeek, slightly disconcerted at the thought that the ruthless man, they all refereed to as "boss" was going to get very angry if he didn't get what he wanted.
"He will be soon. Bring the boy to me and get me the tape that the others sent us."
"Yes sir" with that Rafeek quickly gave a short bow before horridly running away.
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"Caludia!"
"Syd! Thank God you're ok."
"Yes I'm fine, but these people aren't listening!"
"Don't worry Syd, my dad is sending his best lawyer as we speak."
"I'm not sure that'll be good enough. I get the feeling I've been framed and some people around here are in on it." Looking behind Claudia, Sydney realized that something was amiss. "Wait a minute, where's Nigel?"
Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Claudia began her rant. "I got worried when he didn't show up all day. I've looked everywhere Syd, He's nowhere to be found. I called his house, no one picked up, I went to his apartment but was no one there either. When I asked his neighbors, they said that they didn't see him leave the house in the morning like they usually do. I called up every possible place I could think of but its like he just evaporated!"
"That's impossible! Where would he go?"
"I don't know, Syd but its kind of scary. You're in Jail and Nigel's missing. I can't help but think that its all connected."
"It probably is. I need to get out of here if I'm ever going to find any answers", growled Sydney, hitting her fists against the metal bars in frustration. As though it wasn't enough that she was stuck in a cell, being charged for something she didn't do, now she also had to worry about Nigel disappearing. You better be ok Nigel. Actually you better have a really good reason for not being here, because I really need you right now. This is just bad timing on your part.
"Well the Lawyer will be here any minute. I'm going to go back to the university and find out if anyone saw anything unusual around Dr. Amrol's office that might help."
"Fine, just keep me updated."
"I will" With that, Claudia spun around and left her good friend and mentor, helpless and alone, at the mercy of the New England Police.
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"I'm disappointed in you Mr. Bailey. I was hoping you'd be more co-operative." Nigel barely had the strength to flinch at the eerie calm in his captor's voice. "You don't have to do this you know. You can be a free man by just telling me what I need to know."
Nigel said nothing, staring at some point above Coppole's head. He was beyond exhaustion and his body hurt in more ways than he could count. He was not remotely interested in what this man was saying. Nothing could change his mind except.
"…Sydney Fox" Hearing her name, brought Nigel back to full attention. "If you don't want any harm to come to her. You will give me what I want." At this Nigel couldn't help but smirk.
"You know, your threat is all well and good, but if you think you're going to try and "harm" Sydney and live to tell the tale, then you're dumber than I thought." He had no idea where the sudden defiance had come from, but his faith in his best friend was much too strong to let some low life blackmail his way into submission.
"Your confidence in your friend is touching. Misplaced, but touching. Want to know why? See for yourself…" Through the corner of his eyes, Nigel spotted two men carrying a TV into his line of vision. Then they inserted a tape into the VCR. Not having much else to concentrate on, Nigel started at the scene being played out before him. He could see Sydney being handcuffed by the police, and Dr Amrols dead body in the background. Then the scene changed to Sydney being pushed into the prison, and the metal bars slamming behind her. "you're not listening to me. I didn't kill Professor Amrol! Hey! Come back here!" But the two policemen who had hand cuffed her simply walked away, ignoring her completely.
"You bastards. You framed Sydney!" Cried Nigel, appalled at the injustice and terrified at the thought that there would be no rescue after all.
"She'll be free to go as long as you tell us what we want to know."
"Let her go and I'll tell you." Just as the words left his mouth, Nigel realized that it was a mistake. He had given the men what they needed, a way to get to him. They now knew that he would do anything for Sydney.
"That's not going to happen. So, the choice is yours. Either you tell us what we want to know, or I assure you, Ms. Fox will never reach any sort of trial.
"You can't do this!" Nigel roared, enraged that these people were trying to manipulate him.
Ignoring Nigel's outburst, Coppole turned to Rafeek, "take him away, and make sure he understands his options."
Rafeek and hus men dragged Nigel out of the room, resuming another round of "interrogation" until Nigel once again passed out, out of sheer pain and exhaustion. His last thought as he succumbed to the darkness was hoping that he would live long enough to see Sydney safe and sound.
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Claudia quietly made her way into Professor Amrol's deserted office, the entrance of which was covered in yellow tape. The mere fact that she was breaking into the room where a man had been murdered, made the hair at the back of her neck stand up. But still she wriggled her way through the tapes, to get into the office. She was determined to find something that would help prove her friend's innocence. Looking around the room however, she found nothing that was out of ordinary. Books were scattered across the table, a file cabinet stood untouched in the corner and a standing lamp stood unlit near it, its lamp shade casting a dark shadow on the wall. Suddenly, Claudia heard movement come from behind her. Acting purely on instinct, she whirled around charged towards whoever was trying to sneak up behind her.
Screaming and thrashing, she caught the man hard arcoss his jaw. He yelped in pain, before catching hold of her hands.
"Hey! Relax lady!" he cried, before reaching out to turn on the lights.
"Derek!" Claudia squealed. "What're you doing here?"
"You mean aside from being beaten up by you? I could ask you the same thing Claudia."
"You first." She demanded, stamping her foot.
"I'm here to find something to help Sydney." Replied Derek Lioyd, one of Sydney's old boyfriends and a special intelligence officer.
"How'd you know about that?"
"I just got a report that a group of criminals that call themselves the "The Alchamists" are looking for the same relic Dr Amrol was on the verge of discovering. Then I found out that Sydney was arrested on the charge of his murder. I'm pretty sure Sydney didn't do it and there is no reason to suggest that they wouldn't. I also have reason to believe that Nigel's been kidnapped by these people."
"What? How do you know?"
"We intercepted a phone call the night before Professor Amrol got murdered. One of the group members was giving a local criminals that we were tagging, Nigel's home address."
"How did you find out Nigel was missing though? I only just figured it out"
"Well, the very fact that he's not going nuts over getting Sydney out was a pretty big indication. But aside from that, I went and checked out his apartment, they cleaned it up pretty well but I still found Nigel's glasses in the bushes outside his building. They probably fell out while they were dragging him out."
'Do you know where he is. We need to find him!"
"Yea I know. I don't even want to think about what these people will do to him. They're known to be pretty ruthless. Their leader especially, he doesn't leave any sutvivers. But first, we have to spring Sydney out of Jail."
"Did you find any evidence here?"
"Not yet. But I only just got here. Lets take a look."
With that both of them began to meticulously search for something that might help them in aiding both their friends. After a few minutes Claudia jumped up in excitement. "Derek! The phone!."
Looking up from his crouched position on the floor where the trace of professor Amrol's body was drawn he frowned in concentration. "I didn't hear it ring."
"No! when I called to ask about the scrolls, the killer picked up the phone pretending to be Dr Amrol's secretary. Maybe we can find fingerprints to match that criminal of yours and use it as evidence to prove Sydney's innocence?"
"Yes. That's it. No one would have thought to check the fingerprints on the phone. Ok, lets bag the phone and I'll have my men take a look at it."
After looking around for some more evidence for a bit, they both gave up and left the office, heading towards the police station.
Within a few hours, Derek had collected enough information to confirm that the Alchemists were behind Amrol's death and Nigel's abduction. On this basis, he used his contacts to get Sydney out of Jail by the end of the day.
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"Thanks Derek. For everything."
"Come on Syd, we're been through way to much for this sort of thing, Besides, I need your help in finding these "Alchemists" and rescuing Nigel."
"Yea well, that's something I don't need to think about twice." Said Sydney, making her way to Derek's car. She was more worried about Nigel then she could remember herself being in a long time. It was true that this was not the first time he had been abducted but from the way Derek had described the group, there was little doubt in her mind that by now, her Nigel was at least severely injured, if not…no she wouldn't go there. Nigel would never leaver here alone. She still had to figure out her feelings for him. They still had never discussed the chemistry between them, and even when Nigel had tried to bring something up, she had brushed him aside. But now she was beginning to wonder if the oly reason she avoided talking about it was because she was afraid of being rejected by him in the long run. After all, every man has his ego and all the men she had dated in the past had tried to tame her. She had been afraid that Nigel would stop being as openly accepting of her as he is now. But now it seemed stupid to think that way. Nigel would never do that. He was not like the others. He was the only man in the world who cared for her so deeply that he completely that he accepted every flaw of hers, and tried to change himself to suit her lifestyle rather than the other way around. True, that it was his job to help her, but Nigel went far and beyond the call of duty every single day with her.
She had to find him. She had to tell him how she felt and most of all, she had to make sure that he was okay.