Nightmare

Written by: HoshiHikari

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI NY

Summary: Stella's son gets abducted. As she waits anxiously for the kidnappers' to call, she ponders how she is going to find Mac, who had gone undercover, and break the news to him. Little does she know, her husband already knows about the kidnapping as he had participated in the abduction of his own child.

Parings: Mac and Stella

Chapter 2

The minutes ticked by one after the other. Just as steadily as the seconds were moving, parents and their children were leaving one after the other. The longer the seconds passed and the emptier the school became, my anxiety grew higher and higher. Impatiently I checked my cell and noticed that it was already 2:45PM and there was still no sign of my son. By now the school had cleared up significantly so that there were only a few parents lingering around in clumps as they caught up with each other on the mundane before departing from the school with their child. I shifted my weight back and forth while stretching my neck to and fro in hopes of spotting Adrian. Finally even the small crowd of parents and children had left, leaving me the only parent to be standing in the front yard of the school. Not bothering to check the time again as I knew that would only drive my anxieties and worry higher then necessarily, I decided to head to the school office instead, the place where I knew that some children who weren't picked up by someone were taken to wait until someone did come and pick up the child.

"Hello," the receptionist greeted me with a bright smile on her face the moment I stepped into the office. For a few minutes I ignored her as I looked around the place for any signs of children. When I spotted none, I turned my attention onto the receptionist.

"I'm here to pick up my son. He wasn't outside so I was wondering if he was in here." I said as calmly as I could. "I've been waiting since school let out and..."

"I'm sorry Mrs.---"

"Taylor." I supplied.

"Mrs. Taylor" the receptionist continued. "But as you can see this office is empty of children. Perhaps someone else you know have already picked up the child. The father? A grandparent? Or a friend?"

"No that wouldn't be possible." I grounded out, trying to calm my heart as it sped up due to the knowledge that there was currently no one else who could have picked up my child from school without showing a badge in addition to a phone call from me to the school which also meant that something terrible might have happened to him.

"Have you tried calling..."

"Where is Mr. Jones? I'll like to speak with him." I interrupted.

"He might have left already."

"Do you have a phone number that I can reach him at?"

"I can try his calling his classroom. Any other number is strictly confiden...." The receptionist trailed off when I flashed my badge. She typed something into her computer and then scribbled down a number for me. She then picked up the land line and dialed the extension number for Mr. Jones' classroom.

"Mr. Jones?" the receptionist said over the phone "Can you please come down to the office? A Mrs. Taylor would like to speak with you." Having said that, she hung up and turned her attention back onto me. "He'll be down in a few minutes."

I nodded my thanks and then went and took a seat at an empty chair near the door. I had barely gotten comfortable when Mr. Jones, Adrian's teacher, stepped through the door. In an instant I was on my feet.

"Detective Taylor," Mr. Jones greeted. "How may I help you?"

"When did you last see Adrian?" I demanded.

"Right before the bell rang. He was in his chair waiting for the day to be over." Mr. Jones replied with a frown. "Why? Is he...?"

"Did you see anyone pick him up?" I pressed on, hoping that the sound of my beating heart would not be loud enough to disrupt our conversation.

"No, the children leave by them..."

I pulled out my cell, waving a hand to cut off the rest of what Mr. Jones had to say.

"Chief," I said rapidly, knowing my voice betrayed my inner sense of panic. "Adrian's missing. I think he may have been abducted from school."

Only after I've spoken the words of my worst fears out loud did I finally begin to comprehend the situation that I was in. In an instant my body was shaking, the world was spinning quickly around me and all I could do was grab on to whatever was in reach and hold on tight as I felt myself fall.

"That's not the right boy." I finally said after pushing the thought of having just abducted my own child to the back of my mind.

"What do you mean?" Evan asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"The boy in the back. He's not Dexter." I said again, hoping that if we had the wrong boy then maybe they'll just free my son and then go back for the right one.

Evan continued to drive as though he didn't hear me. Suddenly he made a swift turn into an alleyway and then slammed the breaks. He got out of the car and hastily headed to the back. Quickly I followed suit.

"What was that for?" Pete scowled, rubbing a spot on his head. "What happened to being discrete?"

I ignored Pete rambling off about Evan's driving skills and instead turned my attention to Adrian. My heart broke seeing him lying in a fetal position and whimpering softly with his eyes blindfold, gag in mouth and hands tied behind his back. Without thinking I gently picked up him and then took him out of the truck, my hands immediately working to free him, pulling off his gag and blindfold in one motion.

"What are you doing?" Evan cried out seeing that I was working to free the rope that had been used to tie my son's hands together.

"Letting him go." I replied, at last freeing the hands that had been held captive. "He's the wrong boy. I was trying to tell Pete but he was too wrapped up to hear me and..."

"Hey you were attached to him. I assumed he was the right child." Pete defended himself.

"Whatever. We still have time. We could free this kid now and go back for the right child. No need to pull an innocent child into this." I tried talking my way into them letting my son go.

"Are you insane Mac?" Evan questioned with disbelief.

Yes, absolutely insane. I thought to myself. Although insane didn't seem like the appropriate word to describe my current situation or my determination to complete this undercover operation. Anyone else would have backed off by now but of course I couldn't do that. Not now. Especially not now when my son's life was in the hands of mad men.

"He'll go running off to his parents and the parents are going to call the police. Our whole operation would be blown." Evan continued. "Besides Drake doesn't care who the kid is and neither do I. Ultimately he just needs fresh, young, functional organs."

"And how do you know this child is healthy?" I demanded. "We know nothing about him. You can't just pick a random child off the streets and..."

"Does this boy look sick to you?" Evan shouted loudly.

"As a mater of fact he..."

"Break if up you two." Pete stepped between Evan and I. He turned to me and then spoke again. "Look Mac, Evan's right. We can't let this child go. Like he said it doesn't matter who the child is or if he's healthy or not. Our job is just to deliver him to Drake and his job is to pay us. Let him worry about the rest."

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to talk them out of releasing my son and then going for another child, I decided to change tactics. I couldn't afford to hand my son over to Drake. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number, ignoring Evan and Pete for the time being.

"It's me." I said after being greeted by a gruff hello.

"Ah Mac. What can I do for you? You do know we're suppose to meet in less then an hour?"

"Yes of course."

"Then?"

"I was wondering if you were aware Drake that Ryan fell through. He killed the child."

I was greeted by silence and so I began speaking again.

"Not to worry though. We have an alternative child ready."

"Then what is the problem?" Drake asked with a calm voice. "As long as I have the child, you will all get paid."

"I was wondering if you needed the child immediately."

"That would be ideal Mac. Is there a problem?"

"No. I was just thinking that if you didn't we might be able to make some side money. Whoever the parents of that child is must be panicking right now. Why don't we ask for ransom, receive the money and then send the boy into the black market? And even on the off chance that they don't pay, it won't matter because the ransom money is a little extra to begin with and so..."

"How do you expect to find out who the parents are? What if these parents are dirt poor?"

"I could always go back to the crime scene." I said. "The child's parents are bound to be there being questioned by the police right now. If these parents look dirt poor then we can just skip this ransom business. Like I said the money would have been a little extra anyway."

"If any of this goes wrong then I'll have your head."

"Don't worry Drake, I know what I'm doing. Besides I've got Pete and Evan helping me so there shouldn't be any problems."

"Fine. We'll do this your way for now. If I catch wind that your way doesn't work then it is back to my way."

I've never seen so many officers working at a single scene before. Five minutes after I've made the call to the Chief, the first responders were already at the school, sealing both the school and a good chuck of its surrounding area from the public. After these people came the detectives, my team and the chief himself. After those who knew me on a more personal level had checked in to make sure I was somewhat stable to be alone for the time being, they had immediately gone to work, looking for evidence and talking to everyone that either worked at the school or lived around its vicinity.

"Did you find anything?" I demanded as Sinclair came and sat down beside me on the curb, both of us keep our gaze at the streets. Slowly he shook his head in the form of a negative reply.

"Nothing unusual for a school day. No one's seen anything that indicate an abduction had occurred."

"Right, nothing unusual. Nothing more then the fact that my son is missing." I shot back. I was satisfied to see the chief wince at that.

"Have you..." Sinclair began uneasily. "Have you called Mac yet?"

I spun around quickly, not believing what I had just heard. The mention of Mac and my inability to reach him even if I wanted to caused me to snap,

"Call Mac?" I shouted so loud that a couple of police officers who were nearby turned to look at us. "How am I suppose to call a person who went undercover and refused to give me any contact information for an emergency. My son's missing. My husband may as well have disappeared. Maybe I should join them too!"

"We'll get Adrian back." Sinclair tried to smooth me.

"Don't give me that line Chief. It'll work on those other people but it won't work on me. I know better..."

"Then you should know better then most that we will find Adrian and arrest whoever is behind this."

I remained silent, knowing that I had to believe it, even if I did know better then most the departments track record of successful abduction cases.

"Forgive me for asking Stella, but how was your and Mac's personal life before he went undercover? Any major arguments, financial problems, anything at all?"

"What? You think Mac.." I sputter unable to control myself. "You think Mac's behind this?"

"Obligatory questions." Sinclair said with an apologetic smile. "As you know an overwhelming majority of these cases are committed by people the child knows."

"Mac's worked for the department, for you, for almost 20 years now." I grounded out. "How can you even suggest that..."

"Just answer the question Stella. I'm not suggesting anything. I trust Mac more then you know. Why else do you think I chose him to go undercover? I just need this on record."

"No, Mac and I didn't have any major arguments nor are we in a financial crisis. You can check into our lives and you'll find nothing. There is no reason for him to kidnap his son."

"I'll take note of that." The chief said. He was going to add more when Stella's cell phone rang. The two looked at each other and then Stella looked at her phone, frowning when she noticed that it was a call from her desk.

"Had all of your home and work calls re-routed to your cell." The chief explained. "Didn't want to take the chance of missing any calls. I know you wouldn't want to sit around the phone all day and that there was no way I could talk you into it so I decided that this was the best option. When you answer the call will immediately be recorded and someone will be trying to track the location which the call was made. I don't need to remind you that you need to make sure Adrian's alive and to talk as long as possible."

"I know what to do Chief." Stella said. She took in a deep breath and answered her cell.

"Hello?"

"Mommy, daddy's..." Adrian's scared voice came through the phone.

"Sweetie!" Stella cried out. "Sweetie, it's...."

"We have your son." A voice that was obviously mechanized by its owner interrupted. "I want one million dollars in unmarked bills. Do not call the police or the FBI. Further instructions will be provided at a later time."

Before Stella could say another word, the phone line went dead.

Here is Chapter 2. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Here's Stella's initial response to finding out Adrian's been kidnapped. Also a brief look at what Mac's involved in and who is in involved with. The reason for asking only for a million dollars will be explained later on. Remember to Review.