11
It Had to be You
A/N: That would be awfully evil to leave you hanging like that so….forget the packing! Here's the next chapter. Only a few more to go.
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Chapter 27
"We want to keep an eye on the new family that just came in today," Brother Donahue told Clarice at the entrance of the women and children's sleep area. "She was in an abusive relationship so she and the children are scared the husband will come after them."
"I know the drill," Clarice replied grimly. "Who's on security tonight?"
"Eddie. He's already been informed of the situation."
"Good. Now what about…"
"Brother Donahue! Brother Donahue!" an agitated voice called out.
The two people turned to see Joe the handyman come running towards them.
"What's wrong, Joe?"
"One of the guys…one of the guys in the rec area. Something's wrong," panted Joe. "He's on the ground, having convulsions and stuff!"
"Go get Father Dancy!" ordered Brother Donahue sharply as he spun on his heels towards the indicated room. Clarice followed closely behind.
Joe quickly headed towards the priest's office only to be stopped by the FBI agent on security detail.
"Hold on. Who are you?"
"Joe…I'm the handyman here. Brother Donahue wants Father Dancy," he replied nervously. "There's an emergency."
The agent nodded. He'd seen the handyman around. He knocked before opening the door.
Father Dancy looked up spotting Joe behind the FBI agent. "Yes?"
"Your handyman said there's an emergency."
"What's wrong, Joe?" he asked as he gestured for the man to come in. Agent Emerson closed the door behind.
"Something's wrong with one of the guys," Joe reported. "He looked bad…real bad. Brother Donahue wants you to come take a look. They're in the rec room."
"Be right there." He looked at Sue. "Looks like we're finished here. Will you be okay?"
"Go ahead. I'll be fine," she assured him. "I'm going home."
"Good. I'll stop by the shop tomorrow." Mark nodded and disappeared down the hall.
As Sue gathered the partially drunk cups of coffee, she could feel her Blackberry vibrate on her waistband. She dumped the cups into the trash can and slipped off her cell. It was Bobby.
"Hi!" she said happily. "I wasn't…"
Before she could finish her sentence, words began to scroll across her screen. "Where are you?"
"At the shelter," she answered in surprise. "It's my day to help, remember?"
"Go home and stay there."
"I was…"
She turned and saw Joe laying the unconscious agent on the ground.
"What happened?" she asked in astonishment her conversation with Bobby forgotten.
As the handyman hunched over the body, a memory prickled Sue. There was something vaguely familiar about the scene that teased her…the shape of… Her eyes widened.
"Was it you?" she whispered. "You were the one bending over Eric?"
Joe shook his head regretfully. "Too bad you remembered." He stood up stowing a cloth in a plastic bag. "I really don't want to hurt you but I don't have much choice."
"What did you do to Agent Emerson?"
"Nothing terrible," he responded matter-of-factly. "Just some chloroform to knock him out. I don't want to hurt him." He took a couple of steps and locked the door. "There," he said in satisfaction. "We won't be bothered."
Desperately trying to control her rising panic, Sue tried to think of what to do. If she could only stall him long enough, surely Bobby would come. She'd been talking to him when their conversation was abruptly cut off. Her fingers curled around the Blackberry. Maybe she could throw it and distract him long enough to reach the door, she thought. If only she could get him to move away from there.
"Did you kill Eric?" she asked.
"I did."
"Why, Joe?"
"He had too many problems."
"We could've helped him."
"It's better he's dead."
"Better for whom?"
"Better for all those people who deserve to live."
She was totally confused. "What people?"
"The people who have every reason to live…like my sister."
"Your sister?"
"She died because of scum like Eric," Joe said spitefully. "And now you have to die because you saw."
"But I didn't see your face, Joe. It was too dark."
"Doesn't matter now. You know too much."
He unbuttoned a flap on his cargo pants and withdrew a slim box.
"What's that?" asked Sue as calmly as she could. Hurry, Bobby, hurry! she pleaded silently.
He removed a syringe.
"For you."
Her eyes widened in alarm.
"It doesn't really hurt, you know," he stated conversationally as he began to move towards her. "Not for long any way."
Just at that moment, the fallen agent groaned momentarily distracting the killer. Instantly, Sue flung her Blackberry at the handyman's head. As he ducked, she pushed him. The syringe flew out of his hand as he staggered trying to regain his balance. Desperately, she reached to unlock the door when she felt a hand grabbing her.
Her scream was abruptly cut-off by a hand clamping over her mouth.
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"What about Emerson?" asked Jack.
"Can't get him on his cell," said Bobby in frustration.
"We'll be there in a minute."
Tires screeching, Jack rounded the corner to see an ambulance in front of the shelter.
Jumping out, the two agents ran into the shelter.
"Where's Father Dancy?" demanded Bobby stopping a man in the hall.
"Rec room," he replied pointing in the direction of the room. "Somebody had a heart attack or something."
Hurrying to the area, they spotted the priest standing to the side as paramedics worked over a body.
"Mark! Mark!" called out Bobby urgently.
"What are you doing here?" Mark asked in surprise.
"Sue…where's Sue?" Bobby demanded.
"I…uh…left her in my office," he replied. "She said she was going home."
There was no one to hear his comment. The men were gone.
Something was up, Mark thought. He tapped his assistant on the arm. "I'll be back. You stay with Nino."
Brother Donahue nodded.
Bobby and Jack were almost sprinting when they heard a scream coming from the direction of Mark's office. There was no agent standing on guard. Both men drew their weapons on the run.
"Sue!" shouted Bobby as he tried the locked door. "Sue!"
"FBI!" yelled Jack holding his gun in the ready position. "Open the door!" They could hear sounds of a struggle inside.
"Stand back!" ordered Bobby.
At his kick, the door burst open to reveal the killer's hands on Sue's throat as her attempts to pry them off became feeble.
Bobby grabbed the man's shirt and delivered a ferocious punch. Stunned, the killer's hold loosened as he fell back. Immediately, Jack's gun trained on him.
"Don't move a muscle!" Jack barked.
Bobby wrapped his arms around Sue as she coughed to regain her breath and moved her out of harm's way.
"Sue?" he asked worriedly his eyes sweeping over her to determine her condition. "Sue?"
Finally able to take a breath without coughing, she looked at him fear plainly seen in her eyes. "Bobby! Oh, Bobby!" she sobbed as she buried her face against his chest.
Automatically, his embrace tightened as he murmured, "It's okay…you're safe" over and over again.
"What…?" sputtered Mark as he skidded to a stop at the doorway. "Joe? Joe's the killer?"
"So it appears," Jack replied.
The suspect sat in a daze on the floor.
"I see you have the situation well in hand," a voice commented.
Jack glanced. It was D with Myles right behind.
"Is this the serial killer?" questioned D.
"I don't know about Emerson but he definitely tried to kill Sue," answered Jack.
"I don't see any marks on him," commented Mark as he bent over the agent on the floor. He was beginning to stir.
"I'll call for the paramedics," D responded.
"What happened?" asked the agent groggily. Mark helped him onto the sofa.
"You were knocked out."
"Chloroform," said Joe conversationally as Myles slapped on a pair of handcuffs on the suspect. "I didn't want to hurt him."
"My…that was thoughtful of you," the acerbic agent commented. "Get up," he ordered as he tugged for the suspect to stand up.
"Where are we going?"
"You have won an all expense paid trip to a nice uncomfortable little room with no view called a cell," said Myles sardonically as he pushed the man towards the doorway.
Joe took a step then stopped turning to face Bobby. "I really didn't want to kill her. She's been nice to me. But she got in my way."
"Get your miserable face out of here!"
Bobby glared fiercely as his arms constricted protectively around Sue. Silence fell on the small group as Myles escorted the man out.
"How did you know to come here?" Jack asked D putting his weapon away.
"Lucy called." He nodded towards the woman in Bobby's embrace. "How's she doing?"
"I think a whole lot better now that Bobby's here," Jack replied. "We were almost too late."
Although a part of his mind on activity around him, Bobby's primary concern was comforting Sue murmuring as he stroked her hair. Although she couldn't hear him, somehow he knew she knew what he was saying. He could feel tension in her body slowly abate. Finally, she pulled away.
"You came," she said her face streaked with tears. "I knew you would."
Bobby scanned her face. The panic in her eyes seemed less. "Did he hurt you?"
She shook her head. "He was…he was going to inject me with something but I threw my Blackberry at him and pushed him down."
"That's my girl!" Bobby smiled gently.
D and Jack exchanged glances at this bit of information. Immediately, they pulled gloves from their pockets and began searching for the syringe.
"I found it!" exclaimed Jack holding up the piece of evidence.
Sue looked away.
As D held open an evidence bag, Jack dropped the syringe in.
"Exhibit A for the prosecution."
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D had ordered him to take Sue home after the police had finished taking down her account and being examined by the paramedics.
"You can file your report tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"The facts won't change. We'll see you when we see you tomorrow," D had said meaningfully as he glanced at Sue. "Go home."
"Are you sure?" Bobby had repeated again torn between his obligation to his job and the woman he loved.
"Yeah," D had assured him. "Now get going before I change my mind."
"Thanks."
The ride home was a silent one. Before he could even knock, the door was flung open. One look at them and Janice guessed what had happened. She enveloped the younger woman in a fierce hug.
"You okay?" she asked as she held Sue at arm's length.
She nodded. "I'm all right…except for these." She gestured to the bruises on her neck. Those marks would remain for a while.
Janice's face paled as she understood what the killer had tried to do. Realizing it wouldn't help Sue to dwell on the incident, she pulled herself together.
"Can I get you anything? Did you eat? Maybe something to drink? What about you, Bobby? I can heat up dinner if you want," Janice blathered away in her relief that Sue was safe. "It'll only take a few minutes."
"I…think…I want to get out of these clothes and take a shower," Sue admitted. She wanted to get rid any physical reminders of the attack. She shivered as she remembered the killer's hands on her throat. She would remember them for a long time.
"You need help?" asked Janice anxiously.
"I think I can manage by myself," Sue smiled wanly.
"I'll have something for you to eat when you're done," Janice informed her.
"Thanks…but I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat something," insisted Janice. "And some hot tea."
Sue stared at Bobby. "Will you…"
"I'll be here waiting for you," he said with a reassuring smile as he read her mind.
"Good."
His smile lasted until Sue disappeared into her room. Then he slouched, drained against the wall. It was evident to Janice the strain of the past few hours had taken its toll on him as well.
She put a comforting hand on his arm. His eyes flew open.
"You did good, Bobby," she said kindly. "You kept her safe."
"We were almost too late," he said miserably distressed he hadn't prevented the attack on Sue.
"She's alive, Bobby," Janice stressed. "And aside from those bruises, she's okay. She said so herself."
"Maybe physically but she'll have those memories for a long time," he said bitterly.
"Then, Bobby Manning, if you love her, it's up to you to make new good memories that'll chase those bad ones away," she said sternly poking his chest with her forefinger to emphasize her point. "Do you hear?"
He stared at her then a smile slowly appeared as the meaning of her words penetrated. He bent down to kiss her on the cheek.
"What was that for?" she asked in surprise.
"If my heart didn't already belong to Sue, you would be the woman for me, Janice," he declared.
She whacked him lightly on the arm. "Oh, go on!" she blushed. She jerked her head towards the kitchen. "C'mon. How 'bout some coffee and a cookie while I get the two of you something to eat?"
He put his arm around her shoulders. "You've got yourself a deal."
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