Mac and Stella were sat in Mac's office in front of a computer, the computer traced Lindsay's movements.
"She's stopped moving. Why has she stopped moving?"
"Stel, calm down. She's probably just met with the FBI guys and talking to them"
"In an alleyway?"
"Yeah, the FBI don't like to be seen"
"I don't know Mac, something doesn't feel right"
"Stella, you are Lindsay's best friend and boss. When it comes to her you have the right to be cautious. Lindsay would call you, or Danny, if something was wrong. Stop worrying and focus"
The dot on the screen moved slightly, causing Mac to glance at the screen.
"Look Stel" Mac pointed to the screen "She just moved, means she isn't lying unconscious somewhere"
Stella nodded "Thanks Mac"
Mac put his arm around Stella "Anytime Stel, anytime"
The couple both looked back to the screen when they saw the Flack's dot moving.
"Oh, its Flack moving. Where's he going?"
"Don't worry Mac, I'm sure he's just going to get a coffee or something"
"No Stel, thats not him moving. we've just lost the signal"
"Give him a couple of minutes and see if we pick it up again"
After a minute Flack's signal was received again, they could see him walking towards the end of an alleyway.
"See, he's just going to get some coffee or something"
Mac continued to look at the screen but Stella was daydreaming. Mac followed the dot but flinched when the signal just went.
"Stel, we've lost him again"
"What?"
"Flack, the signal, we lost it"
"Ok, now thats not possible"
"Look" mac pointed to the place where Flacks signal used to be "We lost him here"
"Thats in the middle of the road"
"Yes I know that Stel, but thats where we lost him"
"Ok, get someone round there"
Stella picked up the phone and dialled the police station. Few words were said but Stella got her message across.
"They're on their way. Check Lindsay's signal"
Mac switched screens so he got Lindsay's signal up.
"We've lost her too" Mac said, his voice was worried.
"Mac, I want to go round Lindsay's apartment. See if there is anything that says her sister wanted to meet with her"
"-Stella, I don't think thats a good idea"
"Right now Mac, I don't care if it's a good idea. Sydney is a contract killer, she has connections, she can get the signals jammed for just enough time for her to kill Lindsay. We need to know if she was planning a meet"
"Ok Stel, we check Lindsay's apartment. You're not going alone, I'm coming too"
"Right, come on then. The longer we wait, the more chance we have of losing Lindsay...For good"
Stella got up and walked towards the door.
"Stel, don't think like that" Mac tried to reassure her.
"How the fuck am I suppose to think Mac? Don't tell me how I'm meant to think" She shrieked "I'm going to get my things, meet me by the car"
Mac nodded and watched Stella walk away
Sydney stood over her sister's still body. Never before had she felt so much hatred towards Lindsay. Throughout her life she had been trying to get rid of Lindsay and now Lindsay had adopted her identity. Sydney bent down to see if Lindsay was still breathing, her breath was hitched but she was still breathing. A grunt escaped Lindsay's lips when Sydney kicked her, hard, in the stomach; the impact of the kick caused Lindsay to roll onto her side. Sydney kicked her once more, to make sure Lindsay was out of plain sight. .
"We're gonna have some fun" Sydney hissed
Sydney walked into an abandoned building. During her stay in New York, this building had become one of her many homes. She strode through the deserted corridors but stopped when she came to the door to the basement, she could hear something humming beneath her. She slowly retrieved her gun from its holster and pushed open the door. Before she even stepped onto the first step she could sense someone was down there, as she went further down the stairs she could see faint shadows. From what she could see, there was a man and a laptop; the man was trying to hide his laptop when Sydney stood on the bottom step.
"Don't move" She purred.
The man made an attempt to close his laptop.
"Don't move" she said slower "I'll put a bullet through your skull"
He stepped away from the laptop and lifted his hands.
"Good" she looked at the screen, her eyes narrowed to see the picture "Why is my picture on your screen?" The man didnt answer "Tell me" she shrieked.
"It's not you, it's your sister"
Sydney pointed her gun at the screen and shot it. The man gasped and darted back to his laptop.
"Who are you?" she murmured.
"A friend of your sisters"
"Which friend?"
"Just a friend"
"Keep going, I'll put a bullet in every ball and socket joint"
"Flack, my name is Don Flack"
"Detective Don Flack?"
"Yes" he said slowly "Why?"
"You were next on my list" She flicked her gun in the direction of a chair in the corner of the room "Sit"
Flack trailed to the chair, maintaining eye contact with Sydney at all times. He began to understand Danny, he knew he was inlove with Lindsay, because he couldn't stop talking about her, but Sydney, she was exactly like her, it was disturbing, she always was so sweet, seeing her face on this monster was a weird thing. He cautiously sat down and waited for the next order.
"Give me your phone, pager, gun, badge and anything else in your pockets"
Flack emptied his pockets onto the floor and placed the other belongings with it.
"That everything" She motioned to the pile on the floor.
"Everything I have on me"
"This jacket yours?" Sydney picked up a jacket that was hung on the banister.
"Yes"
She emptied the pockets of the jacket onto the counter and transferred the pile onto the counter too. Beside the pile were two packets of plastic binding strips. She picked up a packet of strips, ripped it open and walked over to Flack. Sydney moved Flacks arms so his hands were hung loosely by his sides but his arms were fastened to the side of the chair, his wrists were bound to the back legs of the chair and the top of his arm were restrained to the back of the chair. His ankles were also constrained to the legs of the chair.
"I'll be back soon"
Sydney picked up the pile and walked out of site.
Sydney was stood at the end of an alleyway, contemplating what she should do with Flack's belongings. She looked down at the pile in her hands, picking up the set of keys and putting them in her pocket. Sydney continued to stare at the pile, eventually ending up in a daydream, when a car drove past and the light made the police badge glint; she picked up the badge and threw it into the nearest dumpster. The anger was building up inside her and she began to hurl everything into the road, she could hear Flack's phone and pager being crushed underneath the passing cars. The last thing she threw was a picture on a keyring, a picture of Danny, Lindsay and Flack. The keyring hit a building on the other side of the road and Sydney could vaguely hear the sound of it hitting the pavement.
"Milton, you still up there?" Flack called.
Officer Milton has gone upstairs because he had heard a commotion outside the building, laving Flack alone in the basement. He had reached the top of the staircase and was in the corridor when he heard the front door open and heels clicking on the wooden floor, Milton followed his instincts and slipped into the nearest room until it was completely safe to step outside. He was waiting in the doorway, waiting for the intruder to walk past his room. When the woman stopped in front of the basement, Milton peered out of the room and saw what she was doing. He was ready to take her down when she pulled her own gun out of its holster. 'Shit' was the only thought he could manage. Milton was frozen, if he moved the woman might hear him and come for him. He could no longer think coherently, his only thought had recurred over and over, until he heard the gun shot. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled the number for back-up, but no one was receiving his call. Someone must have shot something which jammed all the signals in the building, no phone signals were showing up which also meant that, if Lindsay was in here, the microchip signal would no longer show up on any radar. Eventually, the woman left the building and Milton relaxed a little.
"Milton" Flack called again.
"Yeah Flack, I'm coming man"
Milton raced down the stairs and saw Flack tied to the chair.
"Milton, you gotta hurry, that woman is crazy. You need to get me out of this now"
"Ok buddy. Just calm down. Do you know if there are any scissors or knives or anything around here which i can cut those binders with?"
"No, just look. Look over there on the counter by the other binders, or on that shelf over there. Just look everywhere Milton"
Officer Milton looked on the counter by the binders, and in every draw of the counter. He was looking on the floor near the counter and began to search the shelf. There was over 30 boxes on the shelf, Milton started at the bottom, taking each box and emptying the contents on the floor. He had gone through 10 boxes in just under 10 minutes before he found a pair of scissors.
"Yes. Flack I got them"
"Good, do my feet first"
Milton was down by Flack's ankles, trying to cut through the plastic when he heard the faint sound of heels clicking.
"Milton, don't stop now. You are going to get me out of this"
Milton's hands were gently shaking, the shakes grew more violent as the heels drew closer. One of Flack's ankles were free but Milton couldn't free the other ankle.
"I can't do it man.. She's here, i Just cant do it"
"Milton, calm down"
"Yeah Milton" Sydney purred from the last stair "You know, you shouldn't have come down here. I wasn't planning on killing Donnie. In fact, I wasn't planing on killing anyone. Now, however, I'm going to have to change my plans"
Sydney pulled her gun from the holster and Milton turned to face her. He was hot in the head, mid-turn. Flack watched his friend fall to the floor and a small pool of blood flowed from the side of his head. He looked up at Sydney with icy cold eyes.
"Honey, don't give me that look. It's not personal, it's business"
"Why are you doing this ?"
"don't worry, once I'm done with Linds, i won't need to hurt her anymore, and if you survive until then, you will be able to go back home"
Flack hung his head in disbelief and Sydney once again disappeared up the stairs.
Sydney carried her sister into the building and dropped her in one of the rooms. The room was above the basement, a thud echoed through the floor. Sydney searched her sisters pockets and found her phone, pager, badge and gun and tossed them all aside.
Sydney shifted Lindsay's body so she was sat against a bed frame. She took Lindsay's hands and entwined them with the cold metal poles, binding them once she was sure there was no way Lindsay could free herself. Sydney ripped the bottom of Lindsay's shirt, to reveal her abdomen.
Lindsay was starting to regain her consciousness, but Sydney was impatient. She wanted Lindsay awake now. Lindsay didn't know what was happening but she felt a sharp pain on her cheek, through her blurry eyes she could see Sydney's hand swinging towards her face and slapping her.
"Com'on Linds, wakey wakey"
"Syd?" she murmured
"Finally, she speaks"
"What am I doing here?"Sydney's fist connected with Lindsay's face, just below her eye.
"You...You don't get to speak. I'm in charge here"
Lindsay nodded and closed her eyes.
"Open your eyes"
Lindsay opened her eyes and glared at Sydney. Sydney had boxes of matches next to her, as well as several lighters. She was lighting a match, letting it burn for a while then blowing out the flame.
"You remember what Dad told me when I started smoking Lindsay? Answer me"
"No" she whispered.
Sydney slid to Lindsay, with a box of matches
"Hmm, figured as much. He told me, he said 'Syd, you play with fire and you're gonna get" Sydney lit a match and dropped it on Lindsay's stomach "burnt'"
Lindsay winced in pain but Sydney did nothing. She only watched as the flame left its mark on Lindsay's skin. Before the flame burnt out Sydney blew it gently, causing it to flicker and make another mark. Suddenly Sydney felt something, something she hadn't felt in years, pity and pain. She looked at Lindsay, who was staring at her, but when she saw that Sydney had something wrong she smiles.
"Real connections cannot be broken by time or space" she finally said
"Stop it" Sydney respond before hitting her
"You had better kill me soon. the longer you wait, the longer my feelings will torture you"
Mac and Stella had made it to Lindsay's apartment building in 30 minutes and to Lindsay's apartment in seconds. Stella was getting more and more impatient. Mac was trying to open the door with a set of spare keys, there were about 10 keys on the keying and every key so far had not been the one for Lindsay's apartment.
"Com'on Mac. Hurry it up" Stella urged.
"Stel, I'm going as fast as I can" He assured her.
Mac was ready to give up and break the door down when the current key turned and opened the door. He pushed the door open and Stella pushed past him into Lindsay's front room. She stood in the middle of the room and stared at the pictures on the wall; Mac followed her in and stood beside her.
"Danny and Lindsay? Since when?" Mac asked.
"Never, Lindsay would have told me if she had slept with Danny"
"Then who is that? It has to be Lindsay"
"No Mac. Lindsay isn't shallow enough to put pictures on her walls. This was done by Sydney, she wants to hurt Lindsay. And she's going through Danny"
Stella looked around the apartment.
"Mac, Lindsay's coffee table is upturned" she bent down for a closer look "There's blood down here too"
Mac went down to Stella's level.
"She's gonna be fine Stel. Lindsay can handle herself"
"How do you know? She is facing a psychotic version of herself. They think the same; Sydney knows how to make Lindsay suffer and she will make sure Lindsay suffers"
"Stel, Lindsay has a gun and knows how to use it. She has training in situations like these. I am positive she can take care of herself. If she is over her head, Flack will help her"
"How, the fuck, can Flack help her? He is at the station, isn't he?"
"Not anymore, I sent him to meet Lindsay after her meeting with those agents. He would have been here to protect her against Sydney"
"Well, he obviously didn't do a very good job; if not they would both be in this very apartment and still on our radar"
"Stella, I know you're angry at Sydney, but please don't question Flack and Lindsay's ability to keep safe. They are both going to make it out and we are going to put Sydney behind bars"
Stella nodded, breaking eye contact.
"Hey, come here"
Mac pulled Stella into a hug and softly kissed her temple.
"You worry too much, you know that?"
"Yeah, thanks Mac" She managed a smile.
"Anytime hun"
They sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying the solidarity.
"Mac?"
"Hmm?"
"What are we going to do now?"
"Call Danny"
"Why?"
"Firstly to let him know what's going on and secondly to find out what these pictures are about"
"Ok, you call Danny. I'm gonna take down these pictures"
Stella stood up and started to remove the pictures from the wall, she was putting them all in a pile on the floor. When she had removed all the pictures she began to set Lindsay's apartment right again.
Mac was stood in the doorway, waiting for a response from Danny's phone. The phone had been ringing a little while before something finally happened, Danny's voice mail message played and Mac left his message.
"Danny, its Mac. Listen, we think Lindsay and Flack are in danger. We need you to be on the look out for Sydney. And don't go out without your gun. call me back as soon as you can, keep safe Danny"
Danny was sat in his apartment, watching Letterman and falling asleep on the sofa. He had been home from work for only 20 minutes before his phone started to ring. He knew it was work because he had assigned a ringtone for his colleagues. Everyone had Working 9 to 5 as their tone, but Lindsay had Rock My World Little Country Girl. It wasnt until he properly focused his hearing that he realised that Lindsay was calling him. He reached down to the floor, to pick up his phone.
"Hey Montana"
"Danny" Sydney whispered, using Lindsay's voice.
"You Ok?"
"No, its Sydney, she has gone crazy. I need you Danny" Sydney said, panicked
"Ok Montana, calm down. Where are you?"
Danny could hear clicking on his phone, telling him he has another caller. 'They're gonna have to wait for now' he told himself.
"The abandoned building"
"Which one?"
"I don't remember, the one we past on the way home when we went out a few weeks back"
"Ok, i know which one you mean. But which room are you in?"
"I don't know. Just come to the building and call for me, I let you know when you are there"
"Ok, I'll be there soon"
"Hurry Danny, I'm scared"
Danny hung up the phone and reached for his gun. He put his gun in its holster and grabbed a jacket and shoes then ran out the door, slamming it shut as he left.
In the building, Sydney had just hung up her phone.
"Guess what Linds?" She patronized "Danny's on his way"
Lindsay looked up and rolled her eyes.
"What are you gonna do to him ? I saw the pictures, so what ? you're in love with him ?" she asked with sarcasm. But with just a glance at her she knew.
"Oh my god, you are..."
Sydney slapped her.
"Shut up"
"You're pathetic, let me guess, you told him that you can be me for him, if he wanted to"
Sydney took her gun and put it on lindsay forehead
"I said shut up"
"What are you waiting for, go ahead shoot me, you've been waiting fifteen years for it, why am I still alive ? Are you scared..."
Flack who was still in the basement trying to set him free when he heard a gun shot and a scream.
"I can tell you... you're not be able to tell anyone since you are gonna be dead in ... I'll say 2 hours" she said as she looked at the gun shot wounds on Lindsay shoulder "For the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed being like you, if Danny thinks I'm you, then I'll be you, for the rest of my life, and there's nothing you can do, I'm gonna livethe life that you always wanted. I'm approaching the finish line of a lifetime chase, I won't let anyone stop me from taking the final step"