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Chapter 5

Mac was sat in his office, behind his desk. He'd spent the last 30 or more hours in there. He refused to go anywhere until Ged had called him. His mind was racing with thoughts of Jo and the terrible things she could be going through thanks to Ged, just because he had pissed him off. He promised himself that he would keep his temper under control next time he spoke to Ged.

No matter how long a time he stared at the phone on his desk or at his cell phone next to it they still refused to ring. He waited and waited, nothing.

He looked up from the phones when he heard a knock. He saw Sid standing in the doorway, a sympathetic look on his face and two cups of coffee in his hands. He walked over to Mac and placed the cups down on his desk and then sat down opposite him.

Mac offered a weak smile and said, "Sid, I appreciate the coffee but I'd rather be on my own."

"And I came here not only to give you the coffee but because I have something to say."

"What's that?" Mac asked, trying not to sound as un-amused as he felt.

"I know you're worrying about Jo, but you should give her a little more credit." Sid began.

Mac looked at him in utter confusion. "You came here with coffee just to say that?"

"After the incident with that monster John Curtis, I went to see Jo at her apartment, to take her some flowers and a get well card…" Sid said, seeing it clear as day in his mind.

He knocked on Jo's door holding a huge bouquet of flowers, some chocolates and a card in his hand. He admired Jo, had since the first day they had met. She had been there to offer him support after he had almost lost his sight from an exploding bullet in a DB. She'd shown then she was his friend and he was here now to show her the same thing.

He smiled when a young girl answered the door. He knew it was Jo's adopted daughter, Ellie. "You must be Ellie. I'm Sid." he said. Ellie gave him a curious look. "I work with your Mom." he told her.

"Sweetie, who is it?" he heard Jo shout.

Ellie opened the door more so Jo could see who was standing there, and allowing him to see Jo. "Sid." she said as she pushed herself up from the couch, he could see it was a struggle and clearly painful for her.

Ellie stepped aside for him to come in. "You don't have to get up." he said, trying to rush over to her, "I just wanted to bring you these." he said as he handed her the flowers and chocolates as she now stood in front of him.

Jo smiled at him, but it wasn't her usual full beaming smile, he guessed that had something to do with the angry bruise that lay around her mouth, making it painful for her to smile.

"Mom, I'll be in my room." Ellie said.

"Okay sweetheart." Jo said giving her the same half smile.

It made Sid feel a little sad that she couldn't even smile properly; even her smiley eyes didn't seem as bright. He couldn't help but observe all the bruises on her face. It made him angry to see them. Jo knew he was looking at her battle wounds. "You should see the other guy." she joked as she walked into the kitchen to find a vase for her flowers. "These are beautiful, Sid!"

Sid followed her to the kitchen but still couldn't find words. He could only see her bruises. Finally he said, "He should never have been able to do that to you. I wish I could have traded places with you somehow or have been there to help you."

Jo put the flowers down and walked over to him. She took his hand in her own and said, "I'm fine Sid, really." The tears that had suddenly built in her eyes told him otherwise.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't. It's just…It's good to know I have friends who care about me so much."

Sid smiled and held his arms out for Jo who stepped into them and wrapped her own arms around him as he enveloped her into a friendly hug…

Sid smiled as he thought back. "I think knowing that we won't give up till we find her will keep her strong."

"I hope you're right, because Ged will do everything he can to break her down. He's a violent rapist and…I think if he hasn't already he will make Jo suffer that way." Mac said. The words tasted as bitter as they sounded but he couldn't help think them.

"If he has, we will be here to help her get through it. So long as we can get her back alive we can be there for her to help her heal whatever way she has to." Sid said.

"And what if we don't get her back alive?"

"Let's not make that an option." Sid replied.

~0~0~0~0~

Jo was sat at a small table in the bedroom where the panic room was located. Ged was sat opposite her, a gun in his hand, pointed at her as she ate. He had brought her a McDonald's chicken sandwich meal. It was far from what she would have liked to eat but seeing as it was the first thing she had eaten properly in days it actually tasted pretty fantastic.

She stuffed some fries into her mouth and washed them down with some Sprite. She sat back and decided to take her time with what was left of her meal, make it last. She'd been trying to make her own profile on Ged, more than what they already knew about him, so she decided to try to ask him some questions.

"I thought you were going to let me go once Mac and the team had cleared your name?" she asked.

Ged just shook his head and didn't say a word.

"Are you ever going to let me go?" she asked.

This time he just shrugged. He was really beginning to piss her off. She wanted to smack the smirk right off his face. "You know that eventually they will work out where this place is. They'll come here, arrest your sorry ass and I'll be free." she told him.

"We won't be here when they get here. Now shut the hell up and eat your god-damn meal. We've got a phone call to make."

"To Mac?" she asked.

"What part of shut the fuck up and eat don't you understand?" he said as he glared at her.

"Why do you need me to talk to Mac?"

"EAT!" he yelled.

"How long are you going to keep toying with them?" she yelled back.

Ged got up faster than she could, his fist slammed fast and hard into her face knocking her right out of the chair and onto the floor. He reached down and pulled her back onto her feet, only to hit her in the face again. This time she fell into the table, knocking her meal to the floor.

Ged grabbed her and flipped her over onto her back. He shoved himself between her legs and leant over her as he pinned her to the table, easily holding both her wrists in just one hand. Jo could already feel the grip causing bruises and it hurt but she refused to show him her pain. That was until he hit her in the face again.

The impact was harder than any other time he had hit her had been. It left her seeing stars and she felt her mouth began to fill with blood. She used her tongue to feel around her mouth, wincing in pain as her tongue scraped across a broken tooth. Another fell out as her tongue brushed against it.

She managed to sit up slightly and spit out the blood that had pooled in her mouth, and the tooth. She tried to push herself right up but it was no good. She closed her eyes and just waited for the pain her entire face, and now her mouth, was feeling to pass, but it didn't budge. It just got worse and her mouth began to fill with blood again.

She opened her eyes to see Ged holding a cell phone in his hand, "Now, you're gonna talk to Mac like a good girl."

"And say what exactly?" she said, having to swallow the blood in her mouth, sick as it made her feel.

"Tell him how I just hit you for all I care. I just want him to hear your voice. You sound so much weaker than you did the other day. "

He shoved the phone to her ear and held it there. She didn't want to do as he told her but the idea of hearing Mac's voice sounded pretty good to her. Suddenly there it was, "Mac Taylor."

"Got someone here who wants to talk to you, Mac!" Ged shouted.

"Mac?" Jo said.

"Jo? Oh thank God! Are you okay?" he asked.

Jo felt tears rolling down her face. She sniffled and tried to compose herself. "I'm still in one piece…barely." she said. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't keep the pain out of her voice.

"That's enough!" Ged said as he placed the phone by his own ear. "Are you in a better mood today, Mac?"

"Yes Gamekeeper." Mac replied, trying to show how he was willing to co-operate and play along.

"Good, then I'll call you back once I've dealt with Jo." he said, hanging up the instant he finished speaking.

~0~0~

Mac put the phone down and leant forward over his desk. He buried his face into his hands and took a few deep breaths. He hated how Ged was loving stretching this thing out, how he loved tormenting him. God he wanted Jo back.

~0~0~

Jo glared up at Ged. She knew he was just messing Mac around to wind him up, he wanted an excuse to be able to beat her. Not that he really needed one, which she found out and he grabbed her and threw her to the floor.

She skidded across the shiny wooden floor, her whole body screaming out in a painful protest. Ged was by her side in minutes. He went to kick her but she grabbed his foot and pulled, sending him crashing to the floor on his back.

She tried to push herself up but she had barely got to her hands and knees when he kicked her arm from under her. She was flat on her back when he crashed down on top of her. She struggled beneath him, but he grabbed her arms and pinned them down and used his knees to pin her legs. She had to cry out in pain, she just couldn't hold it in.

"Stop pissing me off, Jo! You think you know what I'm capable of, you have no idea, but keep pissing me off and you're gonna find out!" he spat at her.

"Get off of me!" she roared at him.

He glared at her for a moment then asked, "What the hell made you so tough?" Jo just glared at him. "You know you fighting me is a real turn on, just the way I like it." he said as he brought his lips to her face. Jo turned her face away from him but it didn't stop him. He planted wet lustful kisses over her cheek, and across her jaw and down onto her neck.

She just closed her eyes and tried to push herself up. She had to scream in pain as Ged bit her shoulder so hard each tooth broke her skin. She had seen this abuse evident on his victims and it had always made her incredibly angry, now she knew just how painful it was too.

"Get off me!" she cried out.

Ged laughed at her and pushed himself to his feet, dragging her with him. He shoved her into the panic room so hard she fell into the far wall and cracked her head. The impact was enough to make her legs give out beneath her. She slid down the wall as unconsciousness took over her beaten body.

~0~0~0~0~

Mac and the team were sat in the staff room, the room they had gathered in many times for movie night, times when Jo had been there with them. Mac couldn't help but notice the empty chair next to him where she would usually sit. His cell phone was sat on the table in front of them all. They were sat in silence, waiting for Ged's call. The only sound in the room was the faint sound of the machines and other techs working in the lab. Every one of them was fixed on Mac's phone, willing it to ring. Finally it did. Mac snatched it up, answered and flicked it straight onto speaker then placed it back down.

"Gamekeeper?" he said.

"Mac. I hope the team is there with you because this involves all of you."

Mac glanced around at all the people who needed to be there. Danny, Lindsay, Flack, Adam , Hawkes and Sid. "We're all here." he confirmed.

"Good.

"How's Jo?" Mac asked.

"Sore!" Ged answered, "We had a little disagreement before I made this call."

Mac and the others all felt anger rise up in them, that and fear for their friend. "I'm begging you, please don't hurt her." Mac said.

"Do as I say and I won't. This is the last thing you have to do to get Jo back."

"Tell us." Mac said, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Over the last few months I killed 6 people. You'll find their bodies at various locations. Each one will leave you a clue to finding the next one, once you've found the sixth you'll get Jo. "

"I don't get it." Mac said. "You asked us to clear your name for murder, now you want us to find the bodies of people you have killed?" he, like the others, were so confused by it.

"What can I say, I don't like being blamed for things I didn't do. But I do take pride in my work. This has been months in the making, Mac. A game I created just for you and your team and me to play."

"Why?" Mac asked.

"Why not?" Ged replied coldly. "I've been out of work for a while and well I found I got bored easily so, figured I'd create this game. You'know, have some fun."

"You think murder is fun?" Mac asked.

"Say's the man who chose to work around murder every day."

"I work to stop the murderer. There's a difference."

"Yet you've killed many a time, come to think about it, which one of you Detective's hasn't murdered someone. What makes any of you different from me?"

"Where will we find the first body?" Mac asked, getting off the subject and straight to the point.

Ged just laughed. "The truth isn't always so easy, is it?"

"I just want Jo back. Once I have her then you and I can talk truths."

"Getting Jo back depends on how well you all do. I'll only tell you the first scene, the rest you'll have to work out for yourselves."

"Fine." Mac said. "Where?"

"The Central Park Point, you know the little peninsula. It was the perfect spot to hide a body on a quiet night. The next few weeks saw a lot of bird watchers who just helped demolish the scene and any traces that I had been there. That body is waiting for you and your team to find. It's a fairly well known place so I'm sure you'll find it. If not, I have no problem keeping Jo around. Even with a bruised face she is beautiful. "

"We'll find it." Mac promised him.

"We'll see." Ged replied before he hung up.

Mac sat forward and let his head drop into his hands. The others all watched him, all feeling as desperate as he did. It startled them all when Mac slammed his hands against the table and stood up. "Adam, did you trace the call?" he asked.

Adam was sat behind equipment he had set up when waiting for the call, but it had done no good. "No, Mac. He's using some sort of cloned phone. It bounces from signal to signal. It's almost impossible to trace it."

"Well make it possible!" he yelled. "The rest of you let's find this body!" he yelled before he stormed out.

TBC

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