No time to lose

Karen Vick got the call a minute before the car arrived. She left her office and hurried to the front door. Detective Lassiter had just entered when she reached him.

„Carlton." she greeted released.

The ambulance had found him unharmed save some scratches and bruises. After the helicopter had landed he had jumped out and called for a taxi cap to come to the station. Henry was still on his way back. He had waited for the CSI people to arrive to give them his report before he had headed back. Now he was on the streets while Carlton was already back and on fire. Karen could see the urgency in his eyes. And anger. She could understand that. And though he still looked awfully wasted with all the dirt and and scratches all over his jeans and T-shirt, let alone the big plaster on his cheekbone, she was sure he was in a good enough condition to cause trouble to everybody who should dare to stand in his way.

„I´m so sorry." Karen told him but he didn´t even listen.

„Chief, I need to get back to work immediately." he told her. „The man behind all this is someone I know. I need to find out who he is."

„How do you know that?" she asked confused and followed him to his desk.

„Irving said the kidnapper wanted me to suffer." Carlton explained already typing into his computer. „The way he suffered. This is an act of revenge. Someone holds a grudge against me. It has to do with one of my cases. Most likely one in which I shot someone."

Karen understood what he meant. Still she was worried. He´d just returned after being almost blown up, for a record breaking second time today. His left cheek was the all present proof to that.

„Are you sure you´re feeling all right?" she asked. „You are just …"

„Chief, please!" he cried looking at her with pleading eyes that made her stop at once.

„Lassie!" a voice cried over the hallway. Vick turned around and saw Shawn, Gus and Juliet approaching them.

„Thanks god, you´re all right." O´Hara cried giving her partner a hug. Carlton´s eyes though he accepted her hug, never left Spencer. There was something in this glare, that chief Vick didn´t like. She had seen him looking at the psychic that way before but now there was something more about that. It seemed more dangerous this time. As if Carlton would truly be able to kill him instead of just threatening him.

„Honestly, Lassie." Shawn said. „We´re glad you´re okay."

„Yeah." Gus agreed. „Awful what happened up there."

„Yeah." Shawn agreed, honest regret in his face.

Carlton still stared at him with this strange cold anger. He nodded with a grin that looked like a snarling animal and walked past O´Hara. Shawn noticed the danger in this behavior too and skipped back a little, more confused than actually scared.

„And what did you do all the time? Hm?" Carlton asked him with this disturbing snarly grin. Shawn was about to say something when Lassiter had already grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. „You said, you´d find her!" he yelled into Shawn´s face. „Now where is she? Where? Tell me what you did all this time!"

Gus and Vick grabbed Lassiter´s arms to keep him from strangling Shawn with this rather violent and harsh push against the younger man´s throat. Still he wouldn´t let go.

„Detective!" Karen demanded.

„What did you do while Irving Parker was murdered?" Carlton yelled into Shawn´s face.

„He did work on it." Karen told her detective and finally managed it to make him look at her. „And we are actually already making progress, if you want to know. Listen, Carlton, I understand that you are worried about your wife. But this behavior I can´t tolerate in my station. If you don´t let him go immediately, I´ll have no other choice but to remove you from this place."

Lassiter stared into her face and then back at Spencer, who already seemed to turn reddish under his grip. Eventually he released him and Shawn started to breath again.

„If she dies because of you …" Lassiter pointed at Shawn.

„I know." Shawn interrupted him still gasping for air. „You already told me what happens then. Don´t worry, I won´t forget it. I´m thinking about it all the time."

Lassiter took a deep breath.

„Now why don´t we all get back to work now?" chief Vick suggested sternly. „Each of us to the part that he is supposte to do."

Lassiter was still staring at Spencer. The young psychic did his best to hold this threatening gaze. Then Lassiter spun around and walked back to his desk.

„O´Hara, I need your help." he barked. „There are a lot of files I need to look at. Let´s start."

Chief Vick exchanged a look with Shawn. He was definitely shaken but he seemed to be all right. Guster was the one who looked worried. Eventually Shawn did the same Lassiter had done. He turned around without another word and went back to the room where Mr. Jacobson was still working on the recordings.

...

„What was going on out there?" Jacobson asked when they came back in.

„Nothing." Shawn said wiping some sweat off his upper lip. „What have we got so far?"

„Not much more." Jacobson told him. „I could isolate some sounds but it´s mostly steps and the moving of a chair. Probably the chair the hostage is sitting in."

He changed the preference again to lower the whooshing sound that disturbed the recording, one more time. Until now it was down to a rumbling fuzz, not as steady anymore as it had been before but still annoying enough to remind of a vacuum cleaner. Again the talk between Lassiter and the kidnapper filled the room, their voices now much lower and more buzzing. Shawn couldn´t hear anything helpful in the background. Damn they did a good job with this noise.

„I don´t hear anything." he said disappointed and angry. „There is nothing."

„The equipment doesn´t show anything new either." Jacobson agreed. „Just the stuff we already filtered out. And that is completely useless for naming the place. These noises can happen in any room no matter where the room is."

„Wait a second." Gus suddenly mumbled. He was still listening to the recording. Shawn and Jacobson looked at him waiting. Eventually Gus pointed at the computer. „Can you roll that tape again?" he asked. „But the way it was before you changed it."

„What good would that do?" Jacobson asked.

„Just do it, please." Gus repeated.

The analyst shrugged and changed the recording again back to its original preference. The white noise filled the room again, almost overtoning Lassiter and the other voices – more the other´s than his.

„That is no disturbing signal." Gus realized, his eyes hovering somewhere under the ceiling.

„What?" Jacobson asked. „Of course it is."

„No, it´s not." Gus insisted. „Don´t you hear that? The kidnapper talks louder than Lassiter. As if to overtone the noise. He wouldn´t do that if the noise was only in the line."

Shawn listened closer to what he heard and now that he turned his attention to it, he found that Gus was right.

„You´re right." he said. „This noise doesn´t disguise the background. It is the background."

Jacobson frowned and adjusted the sound again to test this theory.

„But what is that sound?" Shawn mumbled trying to listen hard. At the end it was Gus who had the illumination.

„That´s a train." he cried. „A standing train."

Shawn hold his breath and listened. He closed his eyes and tried to connect the sound he heard with the picture of a train. When he found it, he opened his eyes widely.

„You´re right." he cried excited. „It is a train."

„They must be in a building right at the train station." Gus said.

„No, not at the station." Shawn corrected. „They are in the station. They. Are. In the station. We´ve got it. Lassie!" and with that he was out of the room, running down the hallway to where Lassiter and Juliet were working.

...

The cars came to a halt in front of the train station with squeaking tires. Lassiter jumped out first. At least twelve other officers followed him. So did the chief of police plus two consultants.

„Comb the station." Lassiter barked. „I want them found in five minutes."

„Detective." chief Vick called him back. He turned to her ready to object but when he looked into her eyes he lowered his gaze. He was still on the edge, she could tell from the look in his face, from his tensed shoulders and the clenched jaw. She didn´t want to torture him much more so she hurried to give her instructions to the men and women under her command not his.

„O`Hara, you take your group to the left flank." she ordered. „McNab, you go right. We will search the inside of the station." she told Lassiter. The groups separated and each of them went its own way around the building. Lassiter, chief Vick, Shawn and Gus went through the doors and entered the building.

„Do you get any hunches of where they could be, Mr. Spencer?" chief Vick asked more out of pure hope than anything.

Shawn looked around. The station was literally crowded with people. He tried to remember what he had heard on that tape. It had been near the trains, that much he knew. But there had been no voices of people like they were audible in here. So they had to be in a place apart from this. The train had been waiting, Gus had said.

„There is a little house." he cried, his hand raised to his temple. „Next to the tracks. Or a room in the main building that looks out to the tracks. I´m not sure."

„Everybody, listen up." chief Vick called over radio. „There could be a small house next to the tracks. Look out for that. I repeat we are looking for a small house next to the tracks."

„We see a small house." O´Hara answered. „We are checking it out."

„Understood, O´Hara." chief Vick affirmed. „We´ll keep searching the main building from here. Over."

„Affirmative." Juliet said.

„All right." Vick said. „We should split up and …"

„Right." Lassiter agreed and ran away with Shawn at his heels even before the chief had a chance to say anything else.

Though Shawn had started the very second Lassiter had bolted, he had to hurry to keep up with him. Two times he even thought that he´d lost him in the crowd. But then they reached the east wall and Lassiter stopped.

„Give me something to work with." he demanded when Shawn caught up with him, looking around in haste.

„Eh … I ehm …" Shawn tried to think. He spotted a plan of the building on the wall. „There are stairs." he said. „Somewhere over there. They lead to the upper floors."

Lassiter didn´t ask nor did he wait any longer. He was already on his way. Again Shawn had to run to keep up with him. They had almost reached the door on which a sign showed the diagram of three stairs, when Lassiter´s cell phone rang. He answered it without slowing down.

„O´Hara?" he asked.

„Not quiet." a male voice answered.

Lassiter froze in his steps. Shawn almost ran into him.

„What is it?" he asked but Lassiter didn´t hear him. All he heard was the familiar voice of the kidnapper on the other end.

„I underestimated you, detective." the man said. „You found me. Congratulations."

Lassiter looked around the hall.

„Don´t bother, detective." the man said. „You won´t find me." „He is here." Lassiter whispered to Shawn. Immediately the young psychic started to sweep the crowd with his eyes, looking for a man with a cell phone who looked suspicious. Unfortunately he had to learn that there were quiet a lot of people around who were talking on cell phones and none of them was looking into their direction. He gave Lassiter a helpless headshake.

„I truly thought you were smarter than this." the kidnapper went on. „You don´t seem to care much about her life."

„You have no chance." Lassiter said. „The building is surrounded by cops. Let her go and this might end less ugly for you than it would if you tried to resist."

The man just chuckled.

„What´s so funny?" Lassiter barked. Shawn who had leaned in to listen to the conversation skipped back to save his eardrums from bursting.

„I wasn´t talking about Victoria." the kidnapper said.

Lassiter didn´t understand. Shawn on the other hand, who was back listening in, did understand. It hit him like a fist.

„Everything that happens is because of you, detective." the man said and hung up. Lassiter just stared down at the cell in his hand, not understanding anything.

„It´s Jules." Shawn cried. „It´s a trap. You must warn them."

Lassiter´s eyes went wide when he realized what Shawn was saying. He took the radio from his belt and called in. „O´Hara. Where are you?"

„We are in the house by the tracks, Carlton." she answered. „There is no one here though."

„They must get out there." Shawn cried and took Lassiter´s wrist to tell her himself. „Jules, get outtathere. Now."

„Shawn?" she asked confused. „What´s going on?"

„It´s a trap!" Shawn cried. „They were waiting for us. Get out. Quick."

„All right." she said her voice now full of urgency.

They heard her calling for the other officers to leave the building. But in this moment there was already another sound in the line. A sound they didn´t like to hear at all. And then the radio was disconnected. Shawn and Lassiter stared at each other for three whole seconds. Then they just ran. Out of the building and around it to the tracks. They didn´t need to look for the right direction. The screams of the shocked people and the voices of the calling officers guided them. Shawn could see chief Vick and Gus coming from the other side. Then the only thing he saw was smoke and fire. McNab and the other officers from his team were already there, trying to get the officers out that had survived the explosion.

„Jules!" Shawn cried looking around in fear.

The building was still burning inside, all the windows were smashed, glass and wood lying everywhere around. Then he spotted her. She was lying on the ground, a few feet from the building. A door covered her halfway, what had to be the reason why McNab hadn´t spottet her yet. Lassiter ran to her even before Shawn could change his course and threw the door off his partner. She was unconscious and had a big bruise on her head. Lassiter took her into his arms, trying to wake her up. Her eyelids flickered a little but that was all the response he got.

„She is alive!" he cried while Shawn fell down on his knees next to her. „McNab!" Lassiter yelled. „Call an ambulance! Now!"

The young officer already had his radio in his hand, reporting and asking for help. Barely twenty meters away from them, a white transporter passed by and drove away, while the police men were busy taking care of their wounded colleagues.

...

The stretcher was loaded into the ambulance. Juliet had woken up a minute before but now she was sleeping again. It seemed as if she had been lucky. As it seemed she had been just out of the door when the explosion occurred. Shawn noticed Gus bleaching at this information and unwillingly thought back at the explosion in the Psych office that had almost killed him four months ago. Was that a curse that hung on him? That suddenly all the people he cared about were about to get blown up by some crazy maniacs? He felt sick watching Jules getting loaded into that ambulance. Sure she would be all right. Besides some bruises she would be all right, that at least had been the opinion of the paramedic in charge. But it didn´t help Shawn a bit to feel better.

„What happened?" chief Vick wanted to know. She was as worried and shocked as Shawn, but she coped with this in a much more agressive way. „I´m asking you … How could this happen?" she demanded.

„He knew it, chief." Lassiter said in a low tone. He too was watching Jules being brought away. „He knew we´d come." he said. „He waited for us … and prepared this bomb. It was probably meant for me."

„How could he have known that we´d come?" the chief wanted to know. „We went out on short notice. There is no way he could have known."

Lassiter rubbed the back of his head in desperation. But then his eyes lit up with realisation and he just knew it. „Someone told him." he said.

The chief´s reaction was clearly a doubtful one.

„That´s the only possible explanation." Lassiter insisted.

„You want to tell me that one of the officers in our department is a mole?" she asked.

„Yes."

She started to laugh in denial but Lassiter wouldn´t let go of this idea.

„It explains everything." he said. „You see, I couldn´t understand what he meant when he said, that he would know if I went to the police. But now it makes perfect sense. He would know because someone on the inside is working for him."

Karen was staring at him unsure what to make out of this crazy theory. Eventually she allowed herself to consider it though. Maybe because it made more sense than anything she could have come up with. „Even if you are right with this." she said still hesitant. „How could we possibly find out who it is?"

Lassiter shook his head. That was the part where he had to surrender. When he was honest he had no idea how to find this person, this traitor, who was working for the kidnapper. At least not fast enough so it would make a difference. To save the situation and Victoria, they had to know exactly what they were doing. There was no room for mistakes.

„I´m sorry, detective." the chief said when she realized that he wouldn´t give any answers. „But with just a wild and completely pointless accusation …" She shook her head. „You don´t even know where to start. It practically could be every person working for the department. Not just officers and detectives – god forbid! But also civil staff personal. That is no base to work on."

In his desperation Lassiter didn´t know anything else to do than turning to Shawn. In this moment he wondered, why he hadn´t thought of him earlier in the discussion.

„You must do it, Spencer." he said completely startling the younger man with that. The fake psychic hadn´t expected such a plead at all. But that was exactly what Lassiter was doing. He literally begged: „Tell me that you can find him."

Shawn swallowed about this sudden mental pressure that lay on him. He tried to think. Something had to happen, he knew that as well. He agreed with Lassie. The idea of a spy working for the kidnapper seemed reasonable enough. But how to lure out a traitor without letting him notice that they were looking for him? As soon as he got suspicious, he would inform the kidnappers and then … game over.

Then he remembered something. A game he and Gus had played as kids. They´d called it, where is the point? They only had called it that way, so no one would know what was behind that game. To tell the truth the only connection to the name had been that they had counted each others points in it. But for real it had been about to get their parents to do something for them without them noticing it. Signing homeworks, paying their candy or film tickets, stuff like that. Sometimes Gus had been better but only during the times when Henry had not been distracted with one of his cases. When he was, Shawn´s technique had been unreachable. It had never failed him. Never. And it was the only hunch he had right now. It was a blade of grass he was grabbing now but it was all he had.

„I might have an idea." he said. But already then he was hoping to god that he would be right with this. Lassiter was right. There was no room for mistakes. Not after what just happened.