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Chapter 6

Jo lay there for a second, waiting for the pain to pass. Even though she knew it was pain that wasn't about to pass without some good strong pain medication. She reached down and placed her hand on her shot leg, her outer thigh. Just to touch it hurt like hell an she cried out in pain, tears stinging her eyes.

As she continued to hold her leg, she could feel her blood spilling out of the wound, seeping through her fingers. She was in far more than agony but it was something she had to push aside. She looked up to see Tyler looking at her. She could see his lips moving but she couldn't hear his words. Her head was ringing too loudly with pain. She turned to look at Ellie, it broke her heart to see the tears streaming down her daughters face.

She closed her eyes for a minute and thought back to a case she had worked her first year at the crime lab. The case had started off as a missing persons but had turned out to be so much more, a revenge killing. She remembered back to what she had said to the perp in the interview room.

'God himself could not save someone who wanted to hurt my family. I would make them suffer like they had never suffered before. I would need them to feel the unrelenting pain that I felt…'

When she opened her eyes she heard all the sounds around her again, her children crying. She heard John say, "I'll take these two back upstairs. You keep an eye on her."

Sam nodded and practically threw Ellie into John's arms. John placed his gun against her temple, adding to Jo's anger. John turned to look at Tyler and told him, "Move, or I will shoot her."

He nodded and obeyed, unwilling to put Ellie's life in danger. He began making his way up the stairs and Jo could see he was limping; he was hurt and it made her blood boil.

"Wait..!" Samuel called out to John. "What am I supposed to do with her?" he asked.

John turned to face him, glared at Jo then said, "I'm sure you'll think of something."

His words made a cold shiver shoot down Jo's spine. She looked up at Samuel who was staring down at her, a sadistic smile spreading across his face.

~0~0~0~0~

Lindsay was looking at the computer screen, waiting for it to change, tell her it had made a mistake. She had been so determined to find Jo, she owed it to her, but the damn test kept coming back this way. She was sure it had to be wrong.

Mac walked into the lab and saw the confusion on her face. "What is it?" he asked her.

"I ran the DNA sample we got from off the cigarette butt, that Flack found on Jo's bedroom window-sill, and I got a hit." she told him.

"That's great!" he said as he looked at the computer screen, but staring back at him was John Curtis. Mac instantly remembered back to the night he had watched John Curtis led out to a police car. Jo had stood on the steps of the precinct watching him. The way Curtis had glared back at Jo had raised loud and frantic alarm bells in Mac's head and he had been right, not long after Curtis had attacked Jo.

He looked back at the screen and suddenly shared the same confused look as Lindsay. "This can't be. John Curtis is dead. I saw his body, Lindsay. I checked for a pulse, there wasn't one. I watched him get loaded into the back of the coroners van. God, I even went down to the morgue and saw this son-of-a-bitch lying on a slab."

The memory of that instantly shot back to him…

Mac walked into the morgue. It was quiet in there, more so than usual. Sid was stood by the table, making notes. Mac hesitated at the door before moving over to the table. "Hey Sid." he said, making the older man turn to face him.

"Mac." Sid said, shocked to see him. He figured he'd amuse him though. "I'm finished up here. It was a bullet to the heart that killed him. The wound to his shoulder would have been painful but if Jo hadn't fired again then he could have easily gone on to…." Sid had to stop himself as Mac glanced up at him. He didn't need to hear what Curtis would have ended up putting Jo through had he lived on to do so.

"How's she doing?" Sid asked, changing the subject from Curtis.

"She's pretty badly roughed up. She's at home, her Mothers come to take care of her. She should be fine in a couple of days…except for the bruising."

"I'm just glad its not her here on my table. This could have so easily gone in another direction, Mac. But, at least it's all over now." Sid said.

Mac just looked at him, before looking back down at the pale face of John Curtis….

"Have you re-tested it?" Mac asked Lindsay.

"Twice." she told him. "Either John Curtis is still alive somehow or…"

"Or he shares the same DNA with another person."

"There are only two people who can share the same DNA." Lindsay said.

"John Curtis has an identical twin." Mac confirmed. "Get Adam to run a search through the DMV, I want to know if we're right and if we are I want the address!" he said as he rushed out of the room and into his office. They were going to need back-up.

~0~0~0~0~

Jo had waited, listening until John, Tyler and Ellie were out of the basement before she pushed herself up onto her feet. She couldn't take any weight on her left leg, the one that had a bullet lodged in it, so her body weight was all resting on her right leg. The pain she was in really was excruciating but she just kept thinking about her children and getting them away from here, somewhere safe. She looked Samuel square in the eyes, glared at him with every ounce of anger she felt towards him.

Samuel walked slowly over to her. "What does it take to keep you down?" he asked her.

Jo snarled at him and continued to glare at him, wishing looks could kill. Samuel glared right back at her before he quickly swung his arm out, aimed at her face. Jo managed to block the blow with her arm. It clearly shocked him, but it obviously infuriated him more. She didn't move quick enough to stop his foot slamming into her shot leg. She couldn't hold in the scream of pain that burst from her throat.

She fell forward into him, clutching her leg, only to have him push her backwards. She crashed to the floor again, landing awkwardly on what she guessed were already cracked ribs. She silently screamed inwards at the pain that radiated through her leg, her ribs, her wrist, her entire body. But she did so for only a moment before she began to push herself back up.

She couldn't hold another scream of pain in as Samuel kicked her leg again before stomping on it, pressing his foot down as hard as he could. "Stop!" Jo screamed, unable to stop herself. The pain brought fresh tears to her eyes. Samuel finally moved his foot away but only to use it to flip Jo onto her back. He crouched down above her, straddled her.

She immediately began trying to hit him, with the only arm she could. His body was heavy on top of her beaten body, she felt crushed beneath him. She yelped in pain when he knelt on her legs and grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the floor above her head. He held both her wrists in one hand and reached behind his back.

Jo's heart skipped a beat when she saw the knife he pulled out. He tucked it into the top of her shirt and tugged on it, ripping her shirt open; exposing her chest and far too much cleavage. "Get off!" she yelled at him.

"When I'm done." he spat back at her.

He placed the knife against her throat and let go of her wrists, only so he could unbuckle his belt and unzip his trousers. Jo instantly knew what he was planning and there wasn't a snowflakes chance in hell she would let it happen. With his trousers pulled down slightly he placed his hand on Jo's shoulder, pinning her down more than he already was. He moved the knife away from her throat and placed the blade on her chest, above the top swell of her breast. "You killed my brother. You sinned." he said to her.

Jo remembered all the bodies this case had turned up, thought of the word 'Sinner' that had been carved on all their chests. The same word she presumed would be carved on hers now. She immediately tried to wriggle free from underneath Samuel, but he just smirked, looking down at her. "Keep moving bitch, it feels great." he said to her as he bucked against her.

Jo felt like throwing up, his words knocked her sick, what was worse she could feel how good it felt for him. His hard cock was pressed against her inner thigh. "Get off me!" she screamed louder at him again.

His reply was to press the blade into the flesh of her chest. She cried out in pain as he dragged the blade along in a somewhat zigzag motion. He lifted the blade slightly, moved it across and pressed it down again, making a straight but slow cut. Next came another zigzag motion. She could feel the letters he was carving into her 'S', 'I', 'N'

Jo lay there trying not to scream in pain as Samuel continued his torture. She tried to put her thoughts somewhere else, away from the pain she was feeling but what flashed to her mind was thinking of her children having been injured by this scumbag. She also thought about Adam, who was lying in a hospital bed because of this same scumbag, and the threat he had made against Lindsay, Danny and Lucy; along with the danger he had put Mac in. Then there was the women he had killed. All this gave Jo a new found strength.

She reached up and scratched Samuel's face, hard, right across his eye. He yelped like a whipped dog. Jo didn't waste a second, she hit out at him again and to her delight he tumbled sideways off her. She rolled away from him and pushed herself up, just as he went to grab her she kicked out at him. Her foot connected hard with his face and he fell back, clutching what she hoped was a broken nose.

She turned and ran towards the stairs, ran up them as fast as she possibly could, almost having to drag herself up them. She got to the top and ran through the door. She found herself back in the kitchen. She quickly shut the door and was surprised to see the key still in the lock. She turned it and threw it across the kitchen. Just to be safe she grabbed a dining chair and jammed it under the door knob.

She then turned and began limping out of the kitchen. She remembered John having said he was taking the kids back upstairs so it was more stairs she was nowlooking for. She had just reached the kitchen door when a thought occurred to her.

She turned again and limped over to one of the drawers, she ripped it open to find it full of dishcloths, not what she wanted. She moved another drawer and ripped that one open and immediately saw what she was looking for. She reached into the drawer and pulled out the biggest knife she could find, then she went off to find the stairs again.

She found them out in the hallways, they were narrow and steep. As she began to climb up them the pain it caused her made her want to throw up or cry out in pain, but right now she was like a lioness, ready to kill for her cubs. Again the pain she felt was pushed aside and replaced with anger and adrenaline.

She made it to the top of the stairs and said a silent 'thank you' to God. She wasn't sure which direction to go in but she listened to her gut which told her to go left. Slowly she crept down the hallway. As she neared a door she heard muffled voices. She moved closer to it, trying not to make a sound.

She suddenly saw things begin to sway around her, making her feel like she was on a dinghy boat in the middle of a huge storm out at sea. She had to put her hand out and grab the wall. She didn't feel herself topple over, just felt the wall as she fell against it. She struggled to stay stood up as everything continued to spin and sway around her. Finally the feeling passed. She looked down at her leg, blood was running down it in a steady trickle. She turned to see the blood trail she'd left behind her.

She knew that she couldn't stay conscious much longer, her leg was bleeding too badly. But she wouldn't allow herself to give into it yet. With her adrenaline flowing she stepped in front of the door where she could still hear the voices coming from inside.

She reached down and was about to push it open when it opened up. John stood there, momentarily shocked to see her. She lunged at him with an angry growl but he grabbed her arm and slammed her back against the wall behind her. She groaned in more pain as she heard her shoulder blades crunch, it hurt like hell.

John went to punch her in the face but she swung the knife down. He howled in pain as it stabbed into his shoulder. Without hesitation she pulled it out of him and brought it back down, this time it stabbed into his back. He stumbled back from her, moaning in pain. Jo pushed herself away from the wall and barged him out of the way. She ran straight into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

"Mom!" both Tyler and Ellie shouted.

Jo moved over to Tyler as quick as she could and used the knife to cut through the rope around his wrists. Once they were free she passed him the knife, "Sweetheart, cut the tape around your ankles." she told him before she limped over to Ellie who was sat on a chair.

She wrapped her arms around her and pulled her against her. She held her for a moment before Tyler came up behind her. "Mom, your leg!" he said placing his hand on her side to steady her as she swayed, suddenly light-headed again.

"I fine, sweetheart." she lied, placing her hand on her head, silently begging the swaying to stop.

Tyler hardly believed her but he let go of her so he could use the knife to free Ellie. He had her free by the time Jo's head cleared again. Ellie wrapped her arms around Jo as if holding on for dear life. "It's okay, baby." Jo said reassuringly. "We need to find a way out of here. Tyler that window, how far a drop is it onto the street?" she said as she took the knife from him.

Tyler limped over to the window and looked out. Jo saw his shoulders sink, as if disappointed by what he saw. "Too high." he said as he turned to face her.

They all jumped as the door swung open before slamming into the wall behind it. Jo grabbed Tyler and pulled him behind her along with Ellie. She stood like a protective barrier in front of them. John stepped into the room, clearly pissed off.

"Where's Samuel?" he growled at her.

"Why don't you go check on him." Jo snapped angrily.

John had the gun in his hand, he reached it up and pointed it at Jo. "If you've hurt him!"

"He was just a little bruised and bloody when I left him." she snapped. "Like I said, why don't you go check on him. Id hate him to choke on his own blood!"

"I'll check on him as soon as I've dealt with you." he said as he aimed the gun at her. "You killed my boy and I am going to kill you."

Jo watched as his finger squeezed the trigger. The sound of sirens made both her and John look at the window. John moved over to it, still pointing the gun at Jo. He looked onto the street as a dozen police cars pulled up outside.

"Damn-it!" he roared angrily. He moved away from the window and stormed over to Jo. He grabbed her hand holding the knife and began squeezing and bending it. The knife fell from her hand and landed on the floor by her feet. John then reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her against him so her back was pressed against his chest.

"Get off her!" Tyler yelled at him as he lunged at John. John whipped his arm out, hitting Tyler hard in the head with the butt of the gun in his hand.

Tyler fell to the floor. "Tyler!" Jo screamed, seeing the blood that seeped from a nasty gash.

John began dragging her away from Tyler and Ellie and out of the room. Jo struggled against him. She needed to get back to Tyler and Ellie. John dragged her across the hallway. He suddenly spun around to face the front door in the hallway below as it swung open with a loud crash. A team of armed officers ran in. Mac, Danny and Flack also ran in.

It was Mac who spotted Jo first, she was looking down at him with fear and pain evident in her eyes. Immediately he aimed his gun up at John. "Freeze!" he yelled, signalling to everyone where Jo and John were. "This is over now Mr Curtis, let her go!"

"She killed my son! She has to be punished for that!" John yelled angrily.

Mac looked at Jo, she looked a mess, bloodied, bruised and slipping out of it. "Lower your gun Mr Curtis!" Mac warned him.

John shook his head and moved the gun up towards Jo's temple.

"Mr Curtis!" Flack warned, knowing what was about to go down.

Danny readied his aim as John moved the gun closer to Jo's temple.

To Mac it all seemed to be going in slow motion. He aimed his gun at John and pulled hard on the trigger. John Curtis stumbled back, his arm dropping away from Jo who immediately dropped to the floor. Immediately a shower of gun shots rained over John, multiple bullets burying themselves into him. He stepped forward, his arm held out, his gun pointed down at Jo who lay on the floor.

Another bullet soared through the air before it bit into John's body and he toppled forward into the banister. He toppled straight over it. His body fell through the air before it hit the floor in front of Mac and the others with a loud thud.

"Mom!"

Ellie's scream made Mac look up from John Curtis Senior's body. He began running up the stairs towards Jo. He was followed by Flack and then Danny, who couldn't help but notice the trail of blood.

Mac ran right up to Jo and dropped to his knees by her side. She was lay still, her eyes closed. Ellie was holding her hand as tears streamed down her face. Tyler was calling out her name, panicking that she wasn't responding in the slightest.

"Jo, Jo!" Mac began, "Jo, please, talk to me. Say something." he begged.

Mac placed his fingers on Jo's neck, he was trying to find a pulse, but he couldn't. Danny had his hand placed over the gunshot wound on Jo's thigh, trying to stop the bleeding. "We need a medic!" he yelled.

Mac continued trying to find Jo's pulse. "Jo, come on. Please, please talk to me. Please say something." he said as two medics ran up behind them, luckily they had been called as back-up to.

Mac watched as they placed an oxygen mask on Jo, began working on her. His heart was racing. "There's a pulse, it weak. We need to move her now!" he heard one of the medics say, his heart still racing. "We need to move her or we're gonna lose her!" he heard the other one say. At that point it felt like his heart stopped.

TBC

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