AN: So many gret reviews! I'll try to reply to you all by Saturday. Thank you so much for the wonderful encouragement. Anyou don't know how much I enjoyed your reactions to my little cliffie. It's quite addicting. I may have to leave cliffies more often. evil grin
Previously:
After talking himself out of using the sirens and flashing light on several occasions, Colby pulled into the parking lot. There were two police cars in front of Megan's building. Her car was exactly where David had parked it when they had returned it to her the evening before.
After throwing his SUV into park and racing into the building, he waited impatiently for the elevator before sprinting down the hall toward the police tape crisscrossing Megan's door. What he saw when he arrived made his stomach fly to his feet and his heart lodge in his throat.
The Madness of Megan Reeves
Chapter Five: Gone
The living room was a disaster area. The coffee table was broken, a chair was over turned, and a bookcase had fallen and scattered its contents over a surprisingly large area. There was a hole in the wall next to the kitchen, a lamp was destroyed, and several picture frames had fallen off the walls and shattered.
Colby's phone trilled, jolting him into action.
"Granger," he answered automatically.
Don's voice was frantic. "Colby! LAPD just told us someone broke into Megan's apartment!"
Colby was still on autopilot. "I know."
"They can't find her!" Don's sharp tone pulled him from his horrified daze.
"Get over here," Colby commanded before closing the phone. He ducked under the police tape.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stay behind the tape. This is a crime scene."
"FBI. Who's in charge here?"
The officer looked confused and surprised. "We called you less that a minute ago."
Colby nodded curtly. He didn't want to be rude, but the faster he knew what was going on, the faster he could find Megan. "Who's in charge?
Colby found the man the officer had indicated in the kitchen. His name plate read 'Jensen.'
"What's going on?" he demanded.
Officer Jensen recognized the badge still in Colby's had and began to recount the events of the morning.
"We received a disturbance call around 10:30AM. The witness, a Mrs. Geraldine Atkins, reported a shouting match between a man and a woman that woke her grandson from his morning nap. She heard things fall over and break, so she called us because she was worried about Ms. Reeves when all the noise stopped. We found the apartment like this when we arrived. The lock was picked. No sign of either occupant. No one else reported anything. Presumably, they'd all left for work before this started."
Colby took a deep breath to calm him self. "She's been kidnapped.
Officer Jensen looked startled. "Let's not jump to conclusions. It could have been a lover's quarrel that got out of hand…"
Colby's glare cut him off. "Her boyfriend is currently in outer space on the International Space Station. She was late to work today, and Megan is never late. Her apartment is trashed, and her car is still in the parking lot. Agent Reeves is personally connected to a felon that escaped two days ago. It looks like an abduction to me."
Before the man could respond, they were accosted by David and Don. Colby quickly retold the officer's story, and Don immediately began barking orders.
"Colby, get Charlie on the phone. Remind him of the Reeves variation he used when Crystal Hoyle took Megan. Then, call all of your informants, see what they know, and then go back to the casefiles. Read Megan's carefully. David, update Anderson's team, then informants, and files. Until we know otherwise, assume Marchesi has Megan. Officer," Don checked the tag, "Jensen, pull your best people to work this apartment. Any piece of evidence is crucial."
David and Colby were almost out the door when there was a shout from the back of the apartment. A third officer hurried out of Megan's bedroom. "Oliver, you need to see this," he said to Jensen. The three FBI agents and the officer- in-charge followed him into Megan's bathroom.
"She won't get away this time." Don read the phrase that was scrawled across the mirror in what appeared to be blood. Stuck in the frame were two photographs. One was obviously several years old. In it, two naked, terrified girls huddled in the corner of a basement. Megan and Emma. The second was even more heart-stopping. It was a Polaroid of Megan sprawled on the bathroom floor, a small pool of blood surrounding her head. They looked at the floor. The pool was smeared, but it was there.
"He took that today!" exclaimed Officer Jensen.
"We know it's Marchesi," said Don. "Now let's catch the bastard."
Monday Morning
9:30AM
Megan was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard the creak of her front door. Megan froze. What the hell? The only people with keys to her apartment were Don and Larry. Larry was on the International Space Station about 250 miles above earth, and Don was at work. Both would have knocked first anyway.
She stepped out pf her bedroom and came face to face with Antonio Marchesi.
AN: Another little cliffie!! Sadly, it's not quite as dramatic as the last one. I know this is short, but I figured I'd put you all out of your misery.