A/ N= Heya guys! First i want to apologize for waiting sooooooo long to update but RL got in the way! School started again and with planning and getting the kids settled things were a little crazy. but here we go, i really had fun writing this chapter, and some may call me evil but hey, the show doesn't give us a lot of Mac whump so we have to create our own.
Next, you know this but i will say it again. i do not own any of the recognizable characters, only the mistakes and the evil guys are mine.
Lastly, thanx to all the reviews and alerts, you guys rock! Also thanks to a very good friend of mine who allowed me to use his name. and trust me guys, the real Allan Thomas is not as evil as the one in the story. Enjoy!
Lindsay sat staring at her phone. When was the last time she heard from Freddy? Not since she left school. Suddenly she started texting Freddy, telling him that she will meet him later that day. She just needed to get away from everything for a while, away from the haunting of Mac's empty office, the fear of him not coming back but the worst of all; she needed to get away from the knowledge of what Mac has been through over the last two days. Running away won't get rid of these feelings or emotions but at least it will give her some space to think, maybe she will figure out what she has been missing these last couple of days and the fact that she couldn't get in touch with Sheldon didn't help either. She spoke to Danny last night but he just smiled.
"I'm missing something!" Lindsay shouted at Danny. They were home for the night because they needed to look after Lucy. Danny looked up with a shocked expression on his face. He rarely heard Lindsay so angry.
"Sweetheart, listen. We just need to get a good night's rest and then we can figure it out together."
"I know, but – "
"No, no buts. Okay, this is killing me too. Mac is in trouble because of me and I don't even know why. I tried to think about cases that people died in but none of it matches what that *thing* said on the phone."
"Oh, Honey. I'm sorry. You're right, we will figure this out."
With that they had gone to bed neither of them sleeping, both with memories of that phone call haunting their imaginations.
Lindsay rubbed her face. As fate would have it, Lucy decided to ask if she could visit Uncle Mac after school. Her parents just looked at each other, Lindsay couldn't get herself to say anything and left Danny to tell their daughter that Mac had gone on a trip and won't be back for a while. Lucy wasn't happy but at least she didn't know the truth. And now this text from Freddy. What else is going to go wrong?
Danny walked into the break room looking for Lindsay and found her staring at her phone, deep in thought. He touched her shoulder and she jumped.
"Sorry, Montana. Didn't mean to scare you." He smiled "Jo is going over what we have to try and figure this nonsense out." Lindsay got up and followed him out and they headed for the conference room.
Jo smiled as they walked in; it was evident that they had about the same amount of sleep. She looked at the other people around the table. "None of these people slept last night. My family needs their father back." Jo thought silently while holding Don's blue gaze in her own.
"OK, guys, let's see if we can figure out some of this mess. The crime scenes are first. Danny why don't you and Adam start on yours first."
Danny got up and walked to the board. He spoke while pinning pictures of the crime scene under the heading 'CRIME SCENE 1' on the board.
"We know that this guy died of natural causes. He had a heart attack. Adam ran all the evidence and nothing points to anything else. All the DNA samples and trace came back to the victim. No leads."
"I did some checking," Sid spoke up "Mr Hoff was supposed to be buried yesterday, but his body went missing out of the morgue downtown, earlier that same day."
"Yeah well, this scene smells like a distraction to me." Adam said, "All the evidence was planted. What about your scene Jo? Did you get your results back yet?" Jo nodded and stood up.
Jo walked up to the board as Danny sat down. Her pictures went under the heading 'CRIME SCENE 2'.
"Well, my crime scene was completely washed out. Someone used a fire hose on it. There was very little trace which came back to a dumpster so no leads there. The DNA was so watered down that it couldn't be used."
"Your body was also stolen, Jo." Sid looked at his notes. "The morgue 'happy funerals' said that they had a break in on the same day as Mr Hoff. The victim's name was Suzy Blue and she was 25 years old. She died of cancer."
Don barked a laugh, "Happy funerals, are you serious? Who calls a funeral happy?" This statement brought smiles and giggles to the table, breaking the tension some.
"Danny, one of the Techs gave me this to give to you. Apparently it's a grave number." Everybody looked up to the speaker at the door. "Uhmm, can anyone tell me where Mac is? What the hell is going on here?"
"Sheldon, welcome back. Maybe you should sit down."
Mac became aware of his surroundings very slowly. It was still pitch black and he couldn't hear anything. He remembered who the hell was this guy? What did he want with Danny? Was Danny here? Mac tried to get up but he couldn't. He felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder and he was stiff and sore all over.
Suddenly he was jerked to his feet and lead out of the room he was in. Even walking was agonizing but he clamped down on his teeth determined not to make a sound. He was pushed into a chair and is hands strapped onto the arm rests. His back stung and pulled as it made contact with the back of the chair, but he was not going to scream. His arm burned like fire and so did his fingers. He tried to flex some of them but he couldn't see if any moved.
"Hey, Taylor. You're a tough bastard aren't you?" The voice seemed slightly pissed off. "Well, I decided to leave you here. Freddy here is going to make sure you drink something and then you will sit here until I decide what is going to happen next."
Mac shivered suddenly, the voice had a mischievous sound to it. What is this guy thinking? Mac felt hands on his head and a cold cup to his mouth. Only then did he realise how hungry and thirsty he was. He took a big sip which was an equally big mistake. He started coughing as he choked and struggled to breathe. Someone made small movements on his back and the coughing stopped. The cup was once again by his mouth but this time he drank slower. He received a pat on the shoulder which was probably meant to be reassuring if it wasn't on the arm that hurt so much and Mac flinched. The hand disappeared. This left Mac even more confused. What kind of person will treat you as horrible as this guy and then have someone else treat you with sympathy? Mac decided that it must be a trick; actually he was sure of it.
Freddy pulled his hand away sharply as Taylor flinched. He knew something wasn't right by the way Taylor's body slumped in on itself. "What I wouldn't give to hear what you are thinking." With those words Freddy left, telling Shaun that he was done for the night. Shaun nodded and picked up the gun while moving into the room where Taylor was. Freddy closed his eyes, sighed and left.
Once he came to his crabby apartment he took his phone out from its hiding spot. He switched it on and immediately received a text; Lindsay would meet him for lunch. He looked at his watch; he had just over an hour. He took a quick shower and changed into the nicest clothes he had. Freddy walked out of his apartment with hope, maybe Lindsay could help him get out of this mess and then she could tell him about this guy and she could get in touch with his people and help him.
Freddy took a table by the window and waited for Lindsay to come. "Please let her help me."
After they told Sheldon everything that happened in the last few days, he was shocked into silence. This couldn't happen, not to Mac of all people. He didn't deserve this. He looked at Danny who was standing next to Lindsay. A thought came to mind and he spoke up for the first time.
"This isn't your fault you know that right?" Danny just looked at him, blue eyes meeting brown.
"I just wish I knew who this guy was and what he wanted, it would make things so much better."
"Well, it seems this guy knows you seeing as he definitely is targeting you. Question is why did he take Mac? Why is he punishing Mac when he wants you?" Sheldon voiced the question everyone was thinking about but hadn't had the heart to ask.
"I don't know, Sheldon. And it's killing me." Danny shook his head. He felt Don's hand on his shoulder.
"Look feeling sorry for what we don't know is not going to help." Don said softly, "we know that both the crime scenes was a set up and we know that the bodies were just for show. The robbery Mac and I was investigating was probably also a setup."
"What was the name of the guy that you went to talk to that day, Don?" Jo had an idea suddenly and she was looking through notes on the table looking for something.
"His name was Jordan Pinch. He was nowhere in sight in the alley and there was no sign of him at his house or work." He looked at everyone and then at Jo. He was sure the look on his face was the same as everyone else's: a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"Well, Adam has gone through the traffic videos close to that alley. The van that you saw driving away came back to a Jonathan Weir; one of his aliases is Jordan Pinch. He is associated with a guy called Phillip Thomas, does that name ring a bell?"
"Yes, it does!"
"Crap!"
Danny and Don both spoke together and Don jumped up! They looked at each other and Danny motioned for Don to start. Don nodded and went on:
"Phillip Thomas was and is one of the biggest crime bosses in New York. His father was Allan Thomas; he died a couple of months ago." He looked at Danny and nodded, noticing his friend looked slightly paler than he did a few minutes ago.
"I know who is behind this." That got everybody's attention, "I tried to arrest Allan Thomas, he ran and I chased him. We ended up on a roof, he was standing on the edge wanting to jump over to the next building but the gap was too wide. He fell trying to reach the other side. Thomas survived the jump but he was severely disabled. I didn't know that he died."
"Do you think his son Phillip is behind Mac's kidnapping?"
"He said I did something to him so he probably thinks that I'm responsible for his father's jump"
"Sounds like a bit of a stretch Danny." Sheldon spoke up, "I mean how does Mac fit into all of this and why hurt him so badly." He gestured to the photo of Mac on the display board.
"No, no I think Danny has a point." Lindsay was bouncing "He said, the man on the phone, he said that this is Newton's third law in action." When nobody answered he and only looked at her in confusion – everyone but Danny- she went on "Newton's third law states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, right?" when everyone in the room except Don nodded, she went on "Now if this jackass thinks that Danny is responsible for his father's injuries…"
"He will go after my father," Danny finished for her and Lindsay nodded, "as for the fact that they have Mac instead of my biological father, it's actually quite simple. Mac has been like a father to me since day one, I definitely love him like one so makes sense."
"Ok, it worth looking into." Jo took a deep breath "Sheldon see if you can find out anything about this Allan Thomas and his injuries. Sid, can you find out more about how he died?" Both of the men nodded and she went on "Don Look into the son, see if he has any known associates that might shed some light on his whereabouts, Lindsay you and Danny, see if you can find out more about this Jonathan Weir and his connection with the Thomas people. Adam you and I are going to look into that grave number that Danny found." Everybody nodded and left to go about their work.
"Hey, do you mind if I run out for a while?" Lindsay looked at Danny; she forgot that she didn't tell him about Freddy.
"Yeah sure," he frowned "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah no problem, I'll be back soon and bring you some lunch, ok?" He nodded at her and she kissed him on the check and left.
Lindsay walked into the coffee shop and looked around, she found Freddy sitting alone at a table staring into his coffee. He looked the same as always, a proper Monroe. Light brown hair, same brown eyes she looked at every morning in the mirror, fair skin and the lean body. But he also looked very different, older somehow. She waved at the petite waitress to indicate that she wanted a coffee and headed for the table.
"Hey stranger," she tapped Freddy on the shoulder and smiled as he jumped in his seat.
"Lind! Heya!" Freddy jumped up and grabbed her in a bear hug that had her gasping for air.
"Fred, I can't breathe, monkey." She laughed as he let go and sat down opposite him.
"Sorry freaky brain, it's just damn good to see you." He rubbed a hand through his longish hair.
"So what have you been up to?" Lindsay looked into his haunted eyes and on impulse she asked "What's wrong?"
"Oh, uhm, I've been working here and there, nothing great like you." He smiled, "and you? Anyone special in your life?"
Lindsay eyed him and smiled. Something was wrong with Freddy, he was fidgety, sweating bullets and now he just changed the subject.
"Oh yeah, there is. But I want to know what's wrong with you?" Freddy's head snapped up and what happened next will haunt her for a very long time. Freddy slammed his head on the table and started sobbing. Lindsay was just staring at him dumbstruck and then she moved closer, she slid in next to him and rubbed his back, similar to what she does for Lucy when she has a bad dream.
"Freddy, what's wrong? Tell me, I can help you!"
"I did something really bad Lind, and now I can't get out of it. Worst of all I have to see a man suffer, and I can't do a damn thing about it."
Lindsay felt her heart skip a beat, how did everything go so wrong for her cousin? He was so good with kids and had a clear path to becoming a teacher.
"What did you do Freddy?" she asked him softly,
"I drove a van that was filled with ivory," he looked her in the eyes, pleading, "I didn't know Lind, I swear, I didn't. I was doing a favour for a friend and …" Lindsay cut him off with a wave of her hand,
"If you didn't know then it was unintentional, I'm sure that you won't get into trouble. Now about the man that you see. Who is it? And why?"
"I don't know why, but Lindsay the guy is badly hurt. They whipped him and made him stand outside for a whole day. They don't even feed him properly….." Freddy stopped when he saw the look in Lindsay's eyes; her face was white and her eyes wide, "What?"
"His name, do you…" she had to clear her throat, "do you know his name?" Please she prayed, softly.
"I don't his real name, but Phillip calls him Taylor." He shifted in his seat to look at her. She started crying and she was smiling 'what the hell?' "Do you know him?"
"Yeah, I know him. He's my boss and he's been missing for two days."
"SO you can help me to help him?" Freddy was getting excited; maybe there was still hope for him.
"Yeah we can help him." Lindsay said while taking out her phone, "but first we have to go in to the station and get some back up."
Mac was getting stiff in the chair he was sitting in. it has been a very long time since he heard anything and they just left him here. What was going to happen next? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. The sudden feeling of something on his collar, startled him more than what it should have. The next minute a current went through his body, contracting his muscles; he arched his back involuntarily which aggravated his back. Try as he might he couldn't bite back the scream that escaped his mouth. After an eternity the feeling stopped and he fell back into the chair breathing heavily.
"Messer put the phone down in my ear last night and that wasn't very nice. Now Taylor smile for the camera, I want to show him why he shouldn't fuck with me."
The current went through him again, and he screamed. Over and over again. Mac lost whatever sense he still had and welcomed the blackness as it cocooned him and took him into oblivion.
So what do you think? yay or nay? pls pls pls R&R! wil try to update again soon, it all depends on my muse who keeps running away everytime i think about my NCIS story 'Where loyalites lie'. Anyway until next time.