so... Kelly gets her knee hurt. The next day I smash up my knee playing broom hockey. Then she gets into a car wreck. A few days later I get into a wreck. (minor accident and not my car so save your tears) Needless to say, Kelly will soon be winning the lottery and meeting a hot guy. Just sayin'...

Anyway...I'm on vacation for the rest of the week and I'm out of things to do so here's another chapter.

Chapter 17

Faint unidentifiable noises and then finally voices slowly made their way through the gray haze in Kelly's head. She slowly opened her eyes.

Disoriented, it took her several confusing moments before she realized she was upside down. Kelly blinked her eyes and tried to focus her vision. The pain in her head was excruciating. Curious as to how badly she was hurt, she tried to reach her right arm up to her head and immediately sucked in a sharp breath. Her wrist was broken, she couldn't move it. Trembling, she reached with her other hand to touch the source of the pain. She winced as she rested her hand against her head. The area around the wound was wet and sticky with blood, tiny fragments of broken glass caught in her hair and sparkling in the fading evening light. Her fingers gingerly discovered the deep gash on the left side of her head. It was bleeding profusely and making nearly her entire face sticky with blood. She reached a hand to her seatbelt and fumbled with it, fighting the pain caused by the several lacerations on her arm and hand. Finally, she succeeded. Her action was immediately regretted when she came tumbling down into the roof of the car, no longer supported by the belt.

She cried out shrilly in pain. Her right shoulder was either broken or dislocated, it was hard to tell. It was bent at an odd, disturbing angle and causing her indescribable suffering. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then gasped in pain as her ribs discouraged that course of action as well. Kelly rolled onto her side and looked towards the left rear window. It had been completely shattered and looked to be the only means of escape from the car. She swallowed hard as she looked around the crushed interior of the car. Had she been sitting anywhere else, she would certainly have been killed.

She slowly crawled into the backseat and out the window, dragging her injured body onto the grass outside. She lay for a moment on her back, panting and fighting the urge to close her eyes and let exhaustion overtake her. She wasn't one to ask for help, but right now she desperately needed it.

She remembered the voices she had heard and listened carefully. Someone might be able to help her.

Or someone might be looking for her to make sure she was dead.

Kelly dragged herself into a thick clump of bushes and waited again for the voices, deciding to show herself only if she was certain they belonged to a Good Samaritan. She didn't have to wait long.

"Look, there's the car." the first man shouted.

Twigs and leaves crunched under their feet as they jogged over to it.

"Oh, she's gotta be dead, man." a second voice said.

Kelly heard the two men come uncomfortably close to her hiding spot. She held her breath and waited.

"Shit!" she heard the second voice say.

"What?"

"She's gone!"

"What do you mean, gone?"

"What the hell do you think I mean, she's fucking gone!" The second man's voice was shrill and panicked.

Kelly shrank back, grateful that her cynical nature had saved her.

"Look around, she couldn't have gone too far."

Kelly held her breath, and prayed they wouldn't come her way. The two men began searching in the opposite direction of her. Kelly waited until they were far enough away that she felt safe crawling out of her hiding place.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings. There was no way she could climb the steep hill that led back to the freeway in her condition. She would have to stay down here. There was a gas station on this side of the freeway only a few miles north of where she was.

She had no choice but to get there

Jill sped along the highway, nervously drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. She still had no idea where the shack was, only that it was off of the highway and about thirty minutes north of Los Angeles. Encouraged by her encounter with the Cadillac, she renewed her search in the direction the two men had come from. There might be a chance that she could see it from the road.

She eyed the dense forest on either side of the highway with a frown. Not a good chance, but it was still there.

After driving north from the gas station for twenty minutes, she began to get the uneasy feeling that she had passed it. She took the next exit and changed direction, heading south.

Jill tested every exit again, driving a few miles in each direction. After an hour, she was feeling frustrated and hopeless. She could never hope to find her friend this way. There was simply too much ground to cover.

Tears stung at her eyes. She felt so helpless.

Her phone rang and she quickly jerked it up. Had Sabrina found anything?

"Bri, what's up?" she answered hopefully.

"Not much, Jill. Something about 78. Might be the new warehouse. Might be nothing. I'm out here near where you are. I'm at a gas station. You got anything?"

Jill frowned as her hopes were again dashed.

"Maybe. I overheard two guys talking at the same gas station that you're at. I'll meet you there in thirty minutes, alright?" There they could plan their attack. If she couldn't find her friend at least she could bring her captors to justice, she decided.

She finished talking to Sabrina and drove back towards the run down gas station, feeling angry and miserable. As she drove, she caught sight of dark skid marks leading off of the road. Lost in her thoughts, she initially paid no attention to them.

Suddenly she slammed on her brakes.

The Cadillac.

Those men were somehow connected with Kelly. Her stomach tightened and she threw her car in reverse, ignoring the one way policy of the two lane highway. She stopped on the shoulder of the road and jumped out of her car.

A closer look revealed several sets of skid marks. Jill furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of them.

What had happened here?

Had there been more than one car? Jill looked around for evidence of an accident. She spotted a piece of red plastic in the tall grass by the side of the road. Part of a taillight? She grew uneasy as she looked down into the dense thicket of trees that were on the side of the highway.

Jill followed the tracks and frowned when she noticed the steep embankment. It was nearly 8:30 and the gloomy darkness made it hard to see what was down there. She ran back to her car and grabbed a flash light from the glove compartment.

Now prepared, she carefully lowered herself down the embankment into the trees. She shone her light around, not completely sure what she was looking for. Bright lights suddenly reflected back in her eyes as she passed the beam over the area. Jill lowered her light and was alarmed to see a car, nearly hidden by the undergrowth. The car was upside down, its entire side curved around a splintered tree trunk.

She rushed towards it and slid to her knees, trying to get a glimpse of anyone inside it.

The car was empty.

Jill sighed in frustration and looked around. The car was the same shade of green as the scrape on the side of the Cadillac. It was very likely that the two vehicles had collided. Had Kelly been in this car? This hadn't happened too long ago either. The car's hood was still warm to the touch and the tree looked freshly split. She noticed the open window and decided to look inside.

Jill dropped to all fours and peered inside the crushed interior of the little car. She gasped in shock. There was blood smeared on the steering wheel, the headrest and the roof of the car. Her previous hope that Kelly was down here quickly vanished. She hoped to God that Kelly hadn't been in this car. Her eyes scanned the interior once more.

Her heart stopped when she noticed a scrap of black fabric stuck on the shards of glass on the window frame.

She plucked it up and studied it carefully. Kelly had been wearing a black jacket when she took her home. She distinctly remembered helping her out of it and tossing it on the couch in the living room. Sick with dread, Jill dropped to the ground, crawled inside of the car and groped around carefully. Her hand touched something soft and she clutched it and pulled it out of the car.

It was Kelly's jacket.

Jill emitted a low moan of despair and dropped it to the ground. She wiped her hand on her jeans. Though it wasn't immediately obvious on the dark fabric, a closer look revealed the shoulders, collar and sleeves of the jacket were stained with blood.

Something horrible had happened to Kelly.

Jill sat for a moment, frightened tears welling up in her eyes. Had she been in the car? And if she had, where was she? Not knowing the answers made her frantic with worry. She looked around again. If Kelly had been able to walk away from the accident, she couldn't have gone far. She began combing the area for any trace of her friend

Kelly stumbled and collapsed to the ground. She lay for few moments panting, bleeding, and drenched with sweat. The two mile hike would have ordinarily taken her a little over twenty minutes, but in her badly injured condition was turning into hours.

She rolled over on her side as she felt a violent wave of nausea overtake her. Her ribs screamed their protest as she threw up in the dirt and grass. The pain was almost unbearable and making her sick. She wiped her mouth and shakily attempted to stand up again. It couldn't be much further now.

Kelly pulled herself to her feet and continued staggering in the direction of the gas station. A few minutes later, she collapsed again and this time found she couldn't get up. After several failed attempts, Kelly reached her uninjured hand to her head and winced in pain. She felt so dizzy. So tired. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but to do that would be committing suicide. The two men were still searching the woods for her and if she let herself rest too long, they would surely find her. Unable to stand, she crawled forward determinedly.

Ten agonizing minutes later, she came into view of the gas station. She sighed in relief. Once she got to the front of the building, she could get help and then contact Sabrina and Jill. Her body was quickly giving out on her, and she tried to reach her destination as quickly as possible.

Her strength held out just long enough for her to drag herself up the front steps. She groaned in dismay as she realized that in her hurry, she hadn't noticed that the lights were all out. The station was closed and no one was there to help her, she realized with dread. This blow was enough to utterly demoralize her. Her legs buckled and she fell into the front door. Kelly desperately clung to consciousness, not wanting to be left out helpless in the open. If only she could drag herself to the back of the store where she could hide. She was fading fast, but kicked her leg weakly in an attempt to propell herself forward and away from the front door. Her shoes slid uselessly against the smooth wood of the porch, gaining her nothing for her efforts. Kelly gritted her teeth against the gray haze that was again enveloping her and with the last of her strength she attempted to pull herself up, but failed as she slid to the ground and into darkness.

Sabrina was frantically pacing up and down the length of the gas station waiting for Jill.

Bosley hadn't called Jill, which meant he had no news to give them. Even with her and Jill's combined efforts, they still hadn't found Kelly. The police were notified and the sting would begin at midnight as planned. But without Kelly, there might not be a chance at a confession.

Unless she had been killed, then it was likely they could link him to her murder.

Sabrina shuddered, and pushed the thought away. She was a realist, however, and knew that the chances that Kelly was dead were very high. People like the ones they were dealing with rarely left witnesses alive.

She sighed in frustration. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

Sabrina froze in place as she heard a thump at the door. She perked up, expecting Jill to walk in. When she didn't, she began to grow uneasy. Who was at the door? She made her way to the window and peeked outside. When she didn't see anybody, she shrugged it off and resumed her pacing.

A few minutes later, she was unable to shake off the feeling that she should check on the door. She decidedly rushed toward it and turned the doorknob. She stepped back, puzzled. The door wouldn't open. She tried again and realized that something was blocking it from the other side. She put her shoulder to the door and pushed until she felt the heavy weight give way, then stuck her head outside.

She looked down and yelped in surprise. There was someone lying by the door. Her stomach dropped.

Sabrina squeezed her way outside, torn between hoping and dreading that the woman lying unconscious by the door was Kelly. Even before she was all the way outside, she knew with certainty she had found her friend. She didn't feel the joy that she thought she would upon seeing Kelly again. Her throat tightened as she knelt by her side. The first thing she had noticed was the blood. Kelly was covered with blood.

Sabrina let out a soft curse and checked her pulse with a shaky hand. It was still strong. She exhaled in relief and wasted no time in dragging Kelly inside.

No longer caring if she could be seen from the road, Sabrina flicked on the lights. In the light of the gas station, her friend's injuries were more pronounced and evidence of what had happened to her began to come to light. Noticing her bruised knuckles, Sabrina gently lifted Kelly's right hand. She was alarmed to see that the wrist was broken. Kelly had been in a fight and from the looks of it had lost. It must not have been a very fair fight. Her wrists had rope burns on them and there was a bloody rolled up handkerchief around her neck indicating she had been bound and gagged. Her clothes were torn, dirty, and stained with blood. There was bits of glass in her hair and clothes. She had obviously escaped from being held captive somewhere.

Sabrina's face darkened in anger. Whoever had her had beaten her badly. She had cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over her face, her lip busted and her left eye swollen shut. Her arm was bent at an unnatural angle and her breathing was labored. Sabrina quickly rushed over to the back room, rummaging for anything that could possibly function as medical supplies. She was pleased to see that whoever owned the gas station was prepared for an emergency. She returned with a first aid kit, some towels, a cup of water, and a blanket. Kelly needed medical attention and as soon as she made her comfortable, they were going to a hospital. The police could handle the sting on their own, she decided.

She gently cleaned Kelly's face, the absence of blood and dirt revealing even more nasty cuts and bruises. There was blood running down her face from a gash on her head. Sabrina pressed several pieces of gauze on the wound and tied it in place with a bandage. That would have to do until she got Kelly to a hospital. Her shirt was stained with blood, so Sabrina lifted it to check for any puncture wounds. Though she was relieved that there didn't seem to be any, she wished she hadn't seen the horrible bruising on Kelly's ribs and abdomen. Someone had really worked her over.

Sabrina felt angry tears sting at her eyes. She clenched her jaw. Whoever had done this would pay.

She quickly shook off the rising fury and focused on Kelly. Her friend needed her help. She wrapped her in the blanket and let her head rest against her outstretched leg.

"Kell? Can you hear me?" she said gently, stroking her damp hair. When Kelly didn't respond, Sabrina reached into the first aid kit and pulled out some smelling salts. She opened the bottle and waved it in front of Kelly's nose.

Kelly immediately made a face and pushed it away. Sabrina sighed in relief, whispering a prayer of thanks as Kelly opened her eyes.

"Hey, don't try to move, ok?" she said, pressing her hand lightly on Kelly's chest.

Kelly looked around, bewildered. Her gaze finally settled on Sabrina. "Bri?"

"Yeah, Kell. It's me, just relax." Sabrina soothed.

"You're ok." Kelly whispered weakly. It seemed to be a great deal of effort for her to talk.

Sabrina smiled and gently placed her hand on Kelly's cheek. "Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one on the floor, Kell." she teased. Her look became serious. "What happened?"

"Jill? Where's Jill?" Kelly murmured, ignoring her question. Sabrina frowned. Kelly wasn't in the frame of mind to answer her questions right now. She was injured and upset. And probably in shock. She needed to calm down and rest.

"Out looking for you. Just lie still, ok?"

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine, Kelly. Shhh, don't talk." Sabrina hushed, cupping her hand gently over Kelly's mouth.

Kelly looked distressed. She nervously glanced around the room.

"Shhh. It's ok, Kelly. You're safe here." Sabrina whispered soothingly, in an attempt to calm her.

Kelly's eyes suddenly opened wide and she frantically shook her head. "No, they're coming! We need to get out of here!" she said urgently. She made a weak attempt at getting up, gritting her teeth through the pain radiating from her side and shoulder.

Sabrina easily pushed her back down. "Whoa, take it easy. You're hurt, Kell. I'm taking you to the hospital, alright?"

Kelly shook her head. "No, Bri! We have to stop them!" Her words were slurred together and difficult to understand. Sabrina frowned and firmly held her struggling friend to the ground.

"Kelly." she said sternly. "Calm down." She repeated herself until her friend stopped thrashing and lay still, panting and whimpering in distress.

When she had settled down, Sabrina let her go. "Good girl, just lie still. Who's coming?" she asked softly, so as not to excite her.

Kelly sighed loudly in frustration. "Bri, we need to get out of here now, they're coming."

Sabrina nodded and sensing her agitation, gently stroked her hair again. "Calm down. Who's coming?"

"Peralta's men. They followed me."

Sabrina clenched her teeth in anger. She hadn't thought it was possible to hate the man more than she already did. "Peralta did this to you?"

"And a tree."

Deciding not to further inquire about her friend's last statement, she wrapped the blanket more tightly around Kelly's body to restrain her and slipped an arm under her shoulders.

"Ok, we're going to the hospital now. Can you sit up?"

A sharp knock at the door interrupted them.

Kelly shot Sabrina a panicked look. Sabrina lowered her back to the ground and jumped to her feet. She spied a folding table loaded with snack food by the front counter and she rushed toward it and dragged it until it was directly over Kelly. She reached down and covered her friend completely with the blanket.

"Don't you dare make a sound." she said sternly, pointing a finger at Kelly's face.

Kelly nodded weakly and Sabrina pulled the blanket over her face. With her gun in hand, she walked over to the door and peeked through the window. She nearly collapsed with relief when she saw it was Jill. Muttering to herself, she unlocked the door to let her in.

Jill burst into the room, her face a tear stained mess.

"Bri, something happened to Kelly. I found her jacket in a wrecked car. There's blood everywhere and I can't find her. I think they killed her." she wailed.

Sabrina closed the door and locked it before turning back to Jill.

"She's ok, Jill. She's here."

Jill stared at her in disbelief, then looked around the gas station in confusion. Kelly made her presence known by squirming under her blanket. Jill squealed in delight and rushed over to her friend.

"Oh, Kelly. Thank God!" she breathed, her voice breaking. She threw her arms around her and peppered her covered head with kisses before she heard Kelly's stifled mew of pain. She released her immediately, with a look of horror on her face as she noticed her condition for the first time.

"Jesus Christ, what happened to you? Are you ok?" she breathed, running her fingers over her friend's battered face.

"She will be when we get her to a hospital. Help me carry her." Sabrina said, coming from behind them.

Kelly shook her head again. "Jill, we need to stop them. There's no time, we have to go now."

Jill gasped as she remembered what she had learned earlier.

"Bri, the drop is going to be earlier. At ten instead of twelve. And at warehouse seventy eight just like you said. They figured we tipped the cops."

Sabrina looked at her watch.

9:26

"We can call on the way to the hospital."

"No, we have to go! We need to make sure, we won't get another chance!" Kelly argued. She sat up and cried out in pain. Jill caught her before she toppled to the floor and pulled her into her lap, wrapping her arms around her as tightly as she dared to keep her from moving anymore. Kelly protested, but quickly gave up and slumped into her in resignation.

"You're not going anywhere, Kelly." Sabrina said firmly. She looked at Jill. "I'll go to the warehouse, you take her to the hospital."

Kelly and Jill immediately objected.

"You can't go alone!"

"She needs to get to a hospital, Jill, and we only have thirty minutes, we need to split up!" Sabrina countered.

"Bri, you're not going alone. I'm going with you." Jill argued.

"And leave her here? There's men looking for her and she can't defend herself." Sabrina said heatedly.

Jill scoffed. "Of course not. We'll drop her off and go together."

Sabrina sighed in frustration. "There's not enough time!"

"Then take me with you." Kelly volunteered. Her friends ignored her, still arguing with each other.

"You are not going alone, Sabrina." Jill said firmly.

"Fine. But I don't know what you want me to do, Jill. We can't take her with us."

Kelly listened to them argue and tried several times to speak, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. They were wasting time. Finally, she raised her hand like a child in class. Amazingly, Sabrina and Jill stopped arguing and turned to her in confusion.

Finally.

"Leave me in the car. I'll stay there, I promise." Kelly suggested.

Sabrina and Jill both stared at her.

Kelly winced in pain and sat up. "There's no time to take me anywhere and neither of you are going alone. I'll stay in the car and be by the phone. But we have to go now!"

Sabrina cursed loudly.

"Fine. Jill, help me carry her."

The two girls helped Kelly to Jill's car and laid her down in the backseat, still wrapped in her blanket. Jill jumped into the backseat after her and Sabrina took the wheel.

It was 9:40 and they had twenty minutes to get back to the warehouse.

Lieutenant Michaels was sitting anxiously at his desk finishing up some paper work when his phone rang. He looked at it, dreading who would be on the other line. Christ, what now?

With a shaky hand he picked it up. "Lieutenant Michaels." he answered.

"Lieutenant, this is Sabrina Duncan with Townsend Associates." the young female voice responded. He shut his eyes tight and sighed to himself. He was expecting the call and dreaded what he had to do once he hung up with her.

"There's been a change of plan." Sabrina went on. She sounded stressed and anxious. Michaels leaned his head against the wall as he listened to her talk.

"Peralta is meeting at ten tonight in warehouse number seventy eight instead of fifty nine. We're on our way, meet us there."

Michaels swallowed hard and drummed his fingers anxiously against his desk. "Alright, Ms. Duncan. My team is on their way." he said. He heard the line go dead on her side and wearily hung up the phone.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, his conscience guiltily gnawing at him. Arturo Peralta had been paying him off for years now to evade capture. For years he had discreetly tampered with evidence,altered crime scenes, bribed witnesses, and given alibies for the man and his partners.

This was the first time he would actually going to cause someone's death. He let out a shaky breath and took a gulp out of the bottle of antacid that was sitting on his desk.

Those two girls were going to die. One of them was already dead from the looks of it. And they seemed like such nice girls.

He picked up the phone and dialed the all too familiar number. A gruff male voice answered.

"They figured it out. Cancel everything. They're on their way." Michaels said quietly. The man grunted and hung up the phone.

Michaels sat back in his chair still holding the phone, the dial tone buzzing loudly in his ear. After a few moments, he hung it up.

He took another gulp of the antacid. What Peralta had asked him to do was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done before.

Absolutely nothing.