Changing the rules

„Are you sure about it?" the kidnapper asked. He sounded positively surprised about the news that detective Carlton Lassiter had abandoned the police station and was now on the loose somewhere on the streets.

„Absolutely. They tried to trick me by pretending they´d found your place. Wanted me to call you so they could get me. When it didn´t work, Lassiter just lost it. You should have seen him, he went all nuts on the psychic. If he ever comes back here the chief is gonna take his badge from him for good."

„Very interesting." the man on the phone said. „Is your cover save?"

„Don´t worry. No one is suspecting anything."

„All right. Remain at your poste. I´ll get back to you if I need anything else."

„Okay."

The connection was gone and the phone vanished back into the pocket.

It had been a short call. Not longer than a minute or so. Not too long to be in the restroom, McNab mused when he eavesdropped on the door. Very clever. If anyone would have noticed it, there wouldn´t have been enough evidence for raising suspicion. And even better if no one would pay attention at all. What was suspicious about using the restroom? Nothing at all. And this little officer was not the one that drew the most attention. The perfect spy. Smart, practiced and cool. Not one glimpse of guilt was visible on the face of the young officer. At least not until the door out into the hallway was opened and the so far perfect spy suddenly was confronted with at least a dozen colleagues, including the chief and the psychic.

„What´s going on?" Pascaretti asked pretending to be confused.

McNab who stood closest to her stepped forward. „I saw you running away after detective Lassiter left." he explained.

Pascaretti looked from him to the chief.

„Don´t try to pretend." Karen Vick advised the young officer.

„I heard you talking on the phone." McNab explained.

The young woman´s features went tired when she realized that she had fallen for the psychic´s trick after all. The chief stepped forward, a disappointed yet angry look in her face.

„Officer Pascaretti, you are under arrest." she said. „Officer McNab, bring her to the interrogation room."

...

Lassiter was in his car, driving through the streets. This time he just hadn´t been able to only park an wait for it. He had to move around even if he had no target. The movement helped to stand the tension. Oh god, he so hoped that it would work this time. The whole charade had taken long enough. If the plan should fail after all, he had no idea how to proceed. He had been so tensed all the time, he hadn´t even been able to enjoy the part where he had been allowed to pummel Spencer. And that should have been worth a lot. But it hadn´t been. There was just too much at stake.

His phone rang and dragged him violently out of his thoughts. He jumped and almost dropped the cell by trying to answer it. Finally Spencer called. It had taken long enough. Lassiter just hoped that the news were good.

„Yeah." he said out of breath.

„Detective." a voice that wasn´t Spencer´s answered him. „I hear you´re out of business. What a pity. I sure hope it´s not because of me. I would truly regret to have caused you trouble."

„So I was right." Lassiter growled. „How else could you know about it, if there wouldn´t be a spy at the station."

„Unfortunately this knowledge won´t help you anymore." the other one said. „You are on suspension. You´re on your own now."

„Stop playing games you son of a bitch and show yourself to me if you have the guts. You want something from me? I´m here. Leave Victoria out of it and come straight to me like a man. If you want to dance, I´ll show you who is gonna lead."

The other one just chuckled about Lassiter´s anger. „Well." he said. „Maybe the idea isn´t that bad after all. Yeah, maybe we could arrange a meeting."

„Just name the place." Lassiter demanded.

„Come to the town square in twenty minutes." the other one said now without any sound of a smile in his voice. „I´ll be there."

„And Victoria?"

There was a brief silence before he answered: „We´ll see." Then he hung up.

Lassiter threw the phone into the seat and spun the car around full speed. As fast as he could without endangering pedestrians and other road users, he made his way into the city. After a few minutes his cell rang again. After his excessive circling before, the phone was now lying on the ground. Lassiter cursed and bowed down to pick it up as fast as he could.

„What?" he barked. „Already changed your mind you bastard?"

„Wow." a completely unexpected voice replied. Lassiter was so confused that he at first couldn´t place the voice. Not before the other one called him Lassie. „The act is over. We got him." Spencer told him. „You can stop pretending that you are mad with me now. Though I really appreciate your method acting. It was pretty convincing. Not that I´d enjoy it but …"

„Spencer!" Lassiter barked again, this time to silence this waterfall mouth. „Would you please stop talking? I have something to tell you."

„Oh, Lassie, I´m not sure if that is the right time for that. But maybe if you´d make an appointment and come to my office, we could sit down together and talk about …"

„Would you shut up and listen? The kidnapper called me."

„What did he say?" Spencer asked, now completely serious again.

„He wants to meet me."

„Where?"

„At the towns square." Lassiter looked at his watch. „In fourteen minutes from now."

„Shell we send you backup?" Shawn asked eagerly.

„Yes." Lassiter considered again. „No."

„Thaaat …what?" now Shawn was confused.

„I don´t know what he will do." Lassiter explained. „He said he´d bring Victoria or not and honestly I doubt that he will. That means he has to keep her somewhere with someone who watches her. If I were him, I would prepare something in case I got caught."

„You mean … like an order to kill her?" Shawn guessed.

„Exactly." Lassiter replied grimly.

„Okay, so what do we do?"

„I don´t know." Lassiter admitted. Then he just decided: „I will go there. I´m almost there."

„But Lassie." Shawn cried. „You can´t do that alone. You need some backup."

„It´s too late." Lassiter said. „I can already see the marketplace."

„Wait. There is still time. We can come after you."

„No time." Lassiter replied much too calm for Shawn´s taste. „Thanks for trying to help, Spencer." he added and then just hung up. He parked the car and took one last deep breath before he got out to face the kidnapper of his wife. No matter what was going to happen.

...

At the police station Shawn was staring at his cell phone. He couldn´t believe it. He just couldn´t believe it. Had Lassiter really just said thank you? To him? Lassiter never said thank you. Not to him. He had to be completely out of his mind if he had reached that point. And combined with the rest he had said, this couldn´t be good. He wouldn´t plan to get himself killed, would he?

Shawn looked around. No one else seemed to care. Didn´t they hear what just happened? But then he remembered that they in fact hadn´t. That was the moment when his brain started to move again and rapidly. There was only one thing he could do and that one thing he had to do. If he only knew what this one thing was, dammit! It couldn´t be that difficult.

He looked around, searching, begging for a clue. When he didn´t find the clue he was hoping for, he spun around and did the only reasonable thing he could think of in that moment. He opened his mouth and called for Gus.

...

Lassiter looked over the marketplace. There were lots of people around. It was rush hour on the fruit selling and every single grandma, organic food lover and stay-at-home mom seemed to be here right in this moment. The kidnapper had to know that. That was the reason why he had chosen this place. No way someone could spot him in this crowd if he didn´t want to. Dammit. That also meant there was no way for him, Lassiter, to get or better yet, shoot this son of a bitch in case he should try to run away. Not without hitting anyone else.

His hand instinctively searched for the gun under his jacket for mental support. God, how much he wished to get a chance to shoot that bastard. But he couldn´t. Not here. Not before he knew that Victoria was safe. This whole thing had already cost too many lives. With one last breath he went into the crowd.

Slowly he passed the marketplace, looking around with peeking eyes. Occasionally he had to avoid being run over by people who were not watching their own steps. Still he never stopped observing his surroundings. Where are you, you son of a bitch, he thought to himself. Show yourself. I know you are here. I can feel you. But don´t worry, soon you will feel me. You will feel my glock.

Someone bumped into him from behind. He was just about to turn around to apologize when he felt a hand slip under his jacket. The same time he felt the hard peeking in his back from a gun pointing at him, probably hidden in a pocket, so no one would see it. His own gun vanished unused out of his sight. After that was done, the persecutor pushed him forward a little and allowed him to turn around and have a look at him.

Lassiter stared into two grey eyes under two very brushy brows. The face was worn out and sunburned. A scar ran over the right cheek together with some twinkles. That and the grey temples made the man look older than he actually was. Lassiter guessed mid forties. The features of the man were familiar but he couldn´t remember him. He surely never arrested him. That he would have remembered. Maybe a relative of someone he once arrested. No, not just arrested, he corrected himself. Shot. That was the reason why this was happening. Because this man, standing right in front of him now, wanted revenge for the fact that Lassiter had once justifiably shot his weapon pursuing a suspect.

„Who are you?" he asked directly. „What do you want?"

„My name is Don Feldweger." the man answered with a grin. „That was the answer to the first question."

Lassiter´s mind was racing. Feldweger. Feldweger. He had once worked on a case including a John Feldweger. A drug dealer. When they had found his stash, the man had tried to run and on his run he had pulled a gun and threatened to shoot Lassiter and his partner. Lassiter had shot first. The hit had thrown the man backwards, while he was standing on the edge of a parking lot. He had fallen three feet deep down to the concrete of the lower level of the parking lot. At the end it had been the fall that had killed him, not so much the bullet from Lassiter´s gun. It didn´t matter though. The man was dead. Because of him. But this had been almost ten years ago.

„The answer to the second question, is as simple as this." Feldweger went on. „I want revenge. I want you to feel the same kind of pain, I felt after you shot my brother." He squinted at him as if thinking. „Do you have any idea what it means to lose someone that close to you?" he asked. „Do you? Well, I can assure you, soon you will know."

„Listen." Carlton tried to talk to the man.

„No, detective." Feldweger interrupted him. „You will listen to me now. I overheard your conversation you had after I asked you here. And I had to learn that you didn´t agree to our arrangement."

Lassiter flinched. So they didn´t just have his cell phone number, they also could listen in to the calls he took.

„You tried to deceive me." Feldweger now said. „It´s not that I can´t understand that kind of move from you. I would have done the same thing. But I can´t let you get away with it unpunished, can I?"

„What does that mean?" Carlton asked fearful. When Feldweger didn´t answer he said: „Listen. No one is here with me. We can work this out on our own."

„Naa, I don´t think so." Feldweger said. „You see, I think your little friend didn´t quiet get the meaning of the word private meeting. He´ll be here soon. And I´m afraid with that he left me no choice. You left me no choice." While he was talking he slowly had started to back away from him.

„What does that mean?" Carlton repeated his question, now really fearful. „WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, FELDWEGER!" he yelled. Around him some people turned to them confused but more because of the rude disturbance of their quiet afternoon than because of actual worry.

Carlton was about to bow down to get to the gun in his ankle holster, but Feldweger stopped him with a slight: „Ah, ah, ah, detective. I wouldn´t do that if I were you."

He raised one eyebrow and then dropped his eyes to the level of Carlton´s chest. Lassiter followed his gaze and spotted a little red mark on his shirt. Feldweger didn´t give anything away. If he wanted to shoot him or if it was just his way of keeping him in place while he went away. If Carlton would have been forced to take a bet, he would have said, it was the latter.

At the edge of his perception, he noticed that a car drove into the parking lot, on the other side of the square. In the corner of his eyes he could spot a familiar blue color. It was the first time in his life that he was actually glad to see that ridiculous little car.

„You can´t get away." he told Feldweger. „You just heard that? The place it surrounded. There is no way out."

„The place is surrounded." Feldweger echoed as if asking for confirmation.

Lassiter nodded and tried to look like he was convinced about it himself. It didn´t work. Feldweger raised a cell phone to his mouth as if he would speak into a handradio.

„Shoot someone." he said already in the process of turning around.

„No." Lassiter cried and was about to jump after him, when a man standing right next to him got hit in the chest and fell back with a surprised grunt. Lassiter followed the man´s fall with wide eyes. When he looked back to the place where Feldweger had been standing before, he couldn´t see him any more. On the ground next to him, the man was choking and crying in pain. People all around saw the blood and started to scream.

Lassiter cursed and went down to his knees to stop the bleeding. The man screamed when Lassiter´s fist pressed over his wound. That was the moment when Shawn and Gus arrived at the scene.

„Lassie!" Shawn cried wide eyed. „What happened?"

„He got away." Lassiter answered through gritted teeth. „What are you standing around? Go and call an ambulance."

Gus immediately flipped open his cell phone making the call, while Shawn was still taken aback by what he saw. A man lying on the ground, blood running out of his chest, Lassie kneeling beside him and screaming people everywhere. Was that the kidnapper? Had Lassie shot him? But no, he had just said, he got away. So this must be a bystander who had had the bad luck of being in the wrong place. Did the kidnapper try to shoot Lassie and this man came in the way? Not even Shawn´s great observation skills could tell him in this chaos.

It was several minutes later when the ambulance arrived and released Lassiter from giving first aid. The man was taken on a stretcher and real paramedics took care of him. Lassiter didn´t pay any more attention to it. His eyes were searching the building on the other side of the market.

„He had to be up there somewhere." he murmured.

„What?" Shawn asked puzzled.

„The shooter." Lassiter answered more to himself than to him. „The shot came from over there. He must have been in one of those appartements." and with that he was gone, heading for the building. This time Shawn didn´t need to ask. He knew what Lassiter was thinking. Maybe they are still there. Maybe Victoria is up there too.

Shawn attempted to follow and stopped in the movement. He turned around, looking for Gus. But Gus was with the paramedics on the end of the marketplace, helping with the stretcher and wouldn´t hear him even if he yelled for him on Dolby Surround Sound level. Shawn cursed, hesitated once more and then ran after Lassiter.

He had to run zigzag to not to bump into people. At the end he collided with someone two times anyway before reaching the end of the marketplace and the open street. Lassiter had already crossed it and reached the house he was heading for. An old lady who apparently lived there, just left the house and Lassiter slipped in before the door closed behind her again. When Shawn caught up, the door had fallen shut. He knocked but already knew that Lassiter wouldn´t come back to let him in.

„Dammit, Lassie!" he cried. „That´s not fair, buddy!"

The old lady who hadn´t crossed the street yet, came back to him, an understanding smile on her wrinkled face. „Your friend didn´t wait for you, did he?" she remarked amused. „Come on, young man. I´ll let you in." and she stepped forward, inserted the key and opened the door.

„Oh, thank you, dear lady." Shawn exhaled. „God bless you. Thank you very much."

With that he vanished inside the building, not wanting to lose any more time. Who knew what Lassie had found in there. Maybe he and the bad guys were already shooting at each other again. Considering that, Shawn mused, it would be smarter to stay put instead of running right into it, wouldn´t it? He didn´t slow down though. He ran up two stairs, three, four. There he began to feel out of breath and slowed down, even stopped for a moment to collect his breath. From above he heard a cracking sound, as if something had been broken. Immediately he started to run again, up the last two stairs. He found a broken door and Lassiter with a pulled but very small gun standing in an empty and very dirty room.

When Lassiter heard him enter, he spun around aiming at him – only for half a second until he realized it was Shawn and not the kidnapper. Though Shawn had raised both of his hands instinctively. Now he stood that way with his hands up despite the fact that Lassiter didn´t aim at him any longer (he didn´t even look at him) unmoving and looked around. The room was empty except for a table and some chairs. One chair stood separate and had still some cellotape on it. On the floor under the window there were some marks as if someone had had a tripod standing there. The shooter.

„You´re right, they were here." he said and finally lowered his hands.

„Were." Lassiter pointed out in rage. „They´re gone again!" He grabbed the chair and threw it through the room. Shawn flinched at the sudden noise that was so much louder in an unfurnished room like that. Lassiter didn´t even pay attention. „If it wouldn´t have been for that pedestrian, I could´ve gotten to them." he yelled. „He knew it. The goddamn bastard knew exactly how to get me."

„Hey." Shawn said, trying to calm him down. „You had no choice, okay? You did the right thing."

„She was sitting right here, while I was down there." Lassiter went on without listening. He was facing the window. „She probably could see me from here. DAMMIT!"

He was about to hit the wall in frustration or do something even worse when Shawn jumped forward and stopped him just by drawing the man´s attention to him. „Hey!" he cried with a serious face. „Then she saw you. That also means that she knows you´re on her track. Don´t you think that will give her some strength to hang in there? Don´t you? You bet she will. She will hang on until we find her." He looked Lassiter in the eyes and repeated as convincingly as he could: „We will find her."

The anger in those blue eyes was replaced by something that was much more desperate. Eventually the head detective dropped his gaze, exhausted after this outburst of emotions. „How?" he wanted to know.

„Remember the spy?" Shawn asked and made Lassiter look up again. The surprised look in his eyes told Shawn that he in fact had forgotten about the original plan. „She is at the station in the interrogation room." he said. „Waiting for us." He reached out a hand for Lassiter and squeezed the man´s shoulder. „Let´s just go there." he said. „Okay? Then we´ll see."