HEY THERE :)
SO HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER. THIS ONE'S JUST UNDER 3,000 WORDS SO A LITTLE SHORT BUT IT FELT RIGHT TO STOP IT HERE.
THANKU EVERYONE FOR READING AND REVIEWING MY STORY.
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What happened at the end of the previous chapter.
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Alex grabbed Jo tighter and pulled her against the bars. "You say I won't break you, but you will. They all do in the end. You'll be a lot of use to me and won't it be nice to make this a family business?"
Jo glared hatefully at him. "You really are out of your mind if you think . . ."
"SHUT UP!" He roared.
She froze to the spot.
He smiled menacingly. "Yes. You'll break in time."
Jo swallowed back the fear and cursed inwardly as she pulled her mind back together.
" . . . But first I'm gonna get that vase back Jo. And I'm gonna use you to do it."
Her eyes flashed back at his. The remaining dregs of fear evaporated and rage tore through her heart. "I'll die before I let you get your hands on my Grandfather's vase."
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CHAPTER 12.
A couple of hours later, Mac was pacing around his office feeling as frustrated as ever. Reed Fisher had left with the vase and it was now safe at the Precinct. Don had headed back there soon after. He was currently questioning the five guys they'd arrested back at Crotona Park, but they were refusing to talk. Gary had also decided to work through the night. He was sifting through the evidence they'd removed from Jo's apartment. Unfortunately, as of yet he'd found no fresh leads.
Mac walked over to the window and gazed out at the city. The fear intensified within him as images of Jo tormented him. Jo tied and bound. Alex Cole's gun pressed to her head. Alex pulling the trigger and killing her just as he had countless others.
Panic threatened to immobilise him, but he managed to take some steady breaths and calm himself down. He had to shut out the images. Stay sharp and focused if he was gonna save her from that sonofabitch. He thought about the team. They were still in the lab processing the evidence. He knew he had to send them home to get some sleep. They would be no good to him if they ran themselves ragged.
He sighed inwardly and started to move away from the window. He heard a tap on his door and turned around. "Christine?"
She walked in with a bright smile on her face and placed a large brown bag on his desk. "I brought you some food." Her smile faded ever so slightly. "I heard what happened. . . to Jo. I'm . . . sorry."
The smell of Chinese food wafted around the room making him feel sicker than ever. "What are you doing here? You should be at home asleep."
She walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about you."
Feeling slightly uncomfortable he brought her hand away from his shoulder and stepped back. "I'm fine. . . and I appreciate the food, but I have a lot of work to do here so . . ."
"You need someone to take care of you Mac." She interrupted. "I've been thinking about us, about everything that's happened and I understand now. You were confused. So was I. Jo's a close friend and you care about her. I get that." She took another step towards him and fixed him with a hot, sultry gaze. She pressed her palm to his chest and traced her fingers down his body. "You and I have something special Mac. . .You're so tense. Come home with me and . . ."
In a flash of movement, he grabbed her wrists. "Whoa. Wait just a minute. I'm not confused. Not any more and I thought I made it very clear the other day. Obviously I didn't, so I'll say It again. "I'm sorry. I really am. I never meant to hurt you, but it's . . . over between us. I . . . love her Christine."
She yanked herself free of his grip and stared furiously at him. "You . . . love her? You're in love with . . . Jo?"
Mac sighed heavily and dragged a hand through his hair. "Yes."
He saw the hurt flicker in her eyes. My God Mac. You really messed up. He swallowed hard. "Christine. I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say. . ."
She took a deep, shaky breath, turned away. It's okay. We can still work this out. She won't get between us. She gazed back into Mac's eyes and smiled. "Like I said, I understand. You just need some time."
Mac raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"
"I'll leave the food here. When you come to your senses, you know where I am."
He stared at her in disbelief as she started toward the door. "Wait. . . I don't need . . . time!" He moved quickly across the his office after her, but ended up running into the bin and kicking it halfway across the room. Crap!
His eyes flashed back at her. "Christine! I'm not confused! . . ." He came to an abrupt stop when she shut the door in his face. He watched her walk across the corridor. Do I go after her?
She pressed the elevator button and met his concerned gaze.
Then he saw it in her eyes. Oh My God! Anger slammed his chest. Emotional Blackmail. Control. He'd seen it a thousand times before.
Oh I've definitely come to my senses Christine. He swore inwardly and stayed where he was.
Finally she marched into the elevator and slammed at the button like a spoilt child.
"I never really knew you at all did I?" he whispered, as he watched her disappear behind the elevator doors.
The bin was now at the far side of the room, but had somehow managed to stay upright. Unable to control his temper any longer, Mac grabbed the brown bag and flung it threw the air. He felt slight satisfaction when the bag hit it's target.
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"You'll die before you let me get my hands on your Grandfather's vase?" Alex chuckled and released her. Jo stepped to the back of the cell as he pulled the keys out of his jacket pocket. "I don't think so."
Her heart started pounding wildly in her chest when she saw Lucas walk around the corner.
"Time to go Jo." Alex unlocked the cell door and started to walk towards her.
"Stay away from me." she said shakily. She dodged out of his way and charged for the door.
Lucas lunged for her and pulled her back against him. His strong arms were wrapped tightly around her, before she even had a chance of slamming an elbow into his ribs. There was no way she could get out of his grip now. He was so damn strong, she couldn't move an inch. She could hardly breathe. "Get . . . off me."
Lucas leaned towards her ear. "I don't fancy chasing after you Jo."
She turned her face away and forced herself to calm down. "I won't run. Please. Just let me go."
He roughly jerked her back against him and a sharp, intense pain slammed through her ribs. This time she couldn't control the cry that escaped her. He smiled and leered down at her body. "This is more cosy, don't you think?"
Panic soared through her heart and she frantically kicked out at him. Several times, her foot made contact with his shin's, but he didn't yelp out in pain and release her. He just laughed at her instead.
He brushed his lips across her neck and breathed her in. "You smell good Jo."
Angrily Alex pushed passed him and started walking quickly up the corridor. "Stop playing around with her and hurry up Lucas! We haven't got all night!"
She was half dragged, half carried up a long, dark corridor until they finally reached a heavy set of doors. Alex swung them open and light beamed through. She shut her eyes quickly as the dull ache started pounding in her head. It took her several moments for her eyes to become accustomed to the brightness, but finally she was able to open her eyes and she glanced around, trying to access her surroundings. "Where am I?"
They both ignored her as Lucas continued to drag her along a dimly lit hallway. They passed several windows on their left, but blinds covered them so it was impossible to see out.
Lucas came to an abrupt stop and she bit down on her bottom lip as the pain tore through her once again. Dammit! The bastard had probably cracked one of her ribs.
Alex opened a door to their left and walked inside.
Lucas marched her in after him and shoved her forwards.
Terror gripped her heart when she looked up and saw the single bed in the centre of the room. On the left side of the bed stood several monitors and on the right, there were three syringes sitting on a small table.
Her eyes flashed to Alex. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.
"You're gonna tell me where you found the box." he replied in a cold, harsh tone. He glanced across at the table and grinned back at her. "I think some truth serum will do the trick."
"No. Wait. You don't have to . . ." Alex start to move towards her. She whirled around and ended up slamming into Lucas.
They grabbed her and marched her back into the centre of the room. She pulled back, dug her heels in and screamed for them to stop as she continuing to fight against them, but they ignored her and lifted her onto the bed, then pushed her down on the mattress and secured her wrists and ankles to the restraints.
"Okay. I'll tell you!" She shouted frantically. "I'll tell you where I found it!"
Alex finished tightening up the leather restraints and glared down at her. "Go on then. Tell me."
She forced herself to take some steady breaths. "I . . . found it at . . . Seth's apartment."
He leaned closer and studied her face for a long moment. "I think you're lying to me Jo."
She swallowed hard and pulled frantically at the restraints as he reached for one of the syringes. "No! I'm not! . . . Please! . . . Don't do this!"
He brought the syringe toward her. "We have some Ethyl Alcohol in here, along with some Scopolamine. It will depress your central nervous system and interfere with judgement and higher cognitive function. Then it will . . ."
"It's not affective. You know that." she replied shakily.
He chuckled and reached for the third syringe. "I added an extra formula a few months ago. Tried it on Vernon Greeves, some punk that thought he could outwit me. It was very affective Jo."
He grabbed her arm and she fought harder against the restraints as he pressed the needle against her arm. "I'm telling the truth!" She cried.
"We'll soon find out."
She blinked back the tears and turned away, her heart racing, as he emptied the chemical's into her vein. She felt the effects almost immediately. Her vision began to blur and the numbness started to take over her body. Fear and panic intensified within her and she screamed out again. This time no sound escaped her lips. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She was paralysed.
Alex chucked the empty syringes on the tray and pulled out his phone. He muttered a curse and turned to Lucas. "Keep an eye on her pulse rate, B/P and temperature. I need to make a call and I can't get a damn signal down here. She'll be ready to interrogate in about 30 minutes. I'll be back in 15."
"Sure boss." Lucas watched Alex disappear out of the room. Then he turned and walked across to her bed. He stared down at her with a depraved look in his eyes. "Hey Jo. It's just you and me now."
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Danny sighed heavily and chucked the key that Lindsay had found in the woods, back in the glass dish. "I'm still no closer at finding out where this belongs."
Lindsay gazed wide eyed through the magnifying glass. "Guy's. I think I've got something."
Adam quickly rounded her desk. "What is it?"
"My God. It's . . . a photo." Lindsay answered quietly.
Mac entered the lab and came to an abrupt stop. He stared across at Lindsay. "You've got a photo there?"
Danny spun around and stared across at Lindsay in disbelief. "Are you telling me that muddy ball of mush I found at the house is actually a photo?"
Lindsay took a deep steady breath. "Yes."
Adam dropped what he was doing and charged across to Lindsay's desk with Mac on his heels.
"I cleaned it up as best I could and put it in the drying locker." Her eyes flashed to Mac's. "I've just removed it. It's a photo right?"
Mac took the magnifying glass from Lindsay and looked through it. "It's definitely a photo."
Danny moved quickly towards him. "Can you see the picture?"
"No. It's too damaged. We need to run it through the Digital Filter and hope we can get a clearer picture." Mac carefully lifted the photo and whisked it across to the machine in the far corner of the room.
Sheldon walked into the lab balancing several cups of coffee in his hands. He frowned as he looked across at the team huddled around the desk at the back of the room. "What's going on?"
Adam quickly glanced back at him. "Danny found a photo back at the house."
Sheldon quickly placed the cups on the desk and dashed towards them.
The whole team waited apprehensively for the machine to process the evidence. Mac didn't take his eyes off the screen. It felt like they'd been waiting forever, but finally the machine beeped.
Sheldon stepped forward and pointed to the shadow on the far right of the picture. "Is that a building?"
"It could be." Adam answered.
"That's got to be a road just there and I can make out trees." Lindsay replied.
"We need the Optical Polarizer." Mac ran the software and a couple of minutes later they were looking at a much clearer picture.
"That is a building." Lindsay replied. "She looked closer. "It's a Wireless Connection Store.'
Mac zoomed in on the photo.
"Does anyone recognise the area?" Sheldon asked anxiously.
Mac zoomed in further and froze in his tracks.
Lindsay glanced nervously back at him. "Mac?"
He released a long, shaky breath and grabbed his phone from his pocket. "This photo's been taken in the Upper Roseville Area, Newark."
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Alex walked into the room and looked across at Lucas. "Everything okay?"
Lucas smiled inwardly, tore his gaze from Jo and turned back to Alex. "Everything's been just fine." He glanced down at his watch. "It's been 25 minutes. Where have you been?"
Alex released a long, pent up breath. "Nolan, left evidence back at the house which may compromise our location. " He swore loudly and started pacing around the room. "I shot that worthless piece of shit."
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "You killed him?"
"His time was up. He was well passed his sell by date." Alex turned quickly and glanced back at the monitors. "She's ready." He walked up to the bed and glanced down at her. He saw that glassy look in her eyes as she stared off into space and smiled menacingly. Yea. She's ready. He drew up a chair and sat down. "Who do you care about more than anything in the world Jo?"
"Mac Taylor."
"Do you love him?"
"Yes."
"Would you die for him?"
"Yes."
He grinned down at her with a look of savage satisfaction.
A tear escaped Jo's eye lid.
"That could work to my advantage." He leaned in closer. "Where's the vase?"
"I don't know."
"Tell me where you found the box."
"I found it . . . at . . . Colin's apartment."
"Tell me his full name Jo."
She went suddenly quiet.
He gripped her Jaw and turned her to face him. "Tell me His full name!"
"Colin . . . Smith."
"And what's the address?" He gazed into her eyes and could see she was fighting the drug. "The address Jo! Tell me the address!"
". . . Man. . .hattan."
"Where in Manhattan!"
Another tear escaped her eyelid. "2 W . . . 130th Street."
"How do you know him?"
"I . . . met him . . ."
"Jo! . . ."
"I met him . . . through Seth. They were . . . close friends."
Alex cursed inwardly. There was so much more he needed to get out of her, but first he needed to find that vase. She was stronger than Vernon Greeves and he knew he'd have to prepare a higher dose of this stuff before he interrogated her further. She could start lying to him again, any second. And of course he'd have to wait an hour to do that or he'd end up killing her. He needed her alive. She was more valuable to him alive. He rose quickly to his feet and glared across at Lucas. "You heard the address right?"
"2 West 130th Street."
"Don't just stand there then! Get a team together, and go and find this Colin Smith! And make sure you've got Aran and Carl with ya!" He shouted angrily.
"Sure!" Lucas tore his eyes from Jo and walked quickly out of the room.
Alex followed after Lucas and locked the door behind him. "I'll call you when we find information on this guy."
"Okay." Lucas jogged down the hallway and climbed the stairs into the main house to find the others.
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IT'S GONNA BE ACTION ALL THE WAY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER ;)