And now to shake things up a bit...
Disclaimer: Not mine! All I have is... A THREE HOLE PUNCHER! BWAHAHAHHA!
PsychPsychPsychPsychPsych
The next morning, Juliet arrived at the precinct early with a box of donuts and coffee. She had a change of clothing in her locker, so she had decided to come in early and change before diving back into the case.
When she arrived at her desk, she frowned. Lassiter wasn't at his desk, and there was no sign that he had been there since the previous night. That was strange. Whenever they had a particularly pressing case, Lassiter rarely went home. Instead he took showers at the precinct and took short naps in the cribs.
She set the donuts and coffee down, glancing around. No one was there yet. Maybe he had taken the files home with him. That wasn't unusual.
She ducked into the locker room and took a quick shower. By the time she was redressed and feeling more human, more officers had shown up in the squadroom. But there was still no sign of Lassiter.
Buzz McNabb approached Juliet as she stared at her partner's desk. "Juliet? Something wrong?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
She waved a hand. "Lassiter isn't here yet."
McNabb looked at his watch. That was strange. "We have another hour. Want me to run you by his apartment? He might have overslept."
She had to swallow a laugh. Carlton Lassiter, oversleeping? "Sure, Buzz. That would be great."
They walked out of the precinct and got into Buzz's patrol car. By the time they arrived at Lassiter's apartment building, a knot had formed in Juliet's stomach. Something was definitely wrong. She got out of the car, spotting Lassiter's car in the parking lot. So he was still at home. She jogged into the building, with McNabb hot on her heels.
Moving fast, she went upstairs and easily found Lassiter's apartment. She knocked on his door. "Carlton? Are you awake?"
McNabb came up behind her as she waited anxiously for a response.
But there was no sign of life from inside the apartment. No shuffling sounds of moving feet, no coffee percolating, and no running water.
"Carlton, answer me!"
She didn't like this at all. Locking eyes with McNabb, she nodded toward the door. He nodded, giving her the chance to move away before he kicked the door in.
Juliet rushed into the apartment, her gun drawn. "Carlton? Where are you?" she called.
There was no answer, and she quickly searched the entire apartment. As she exited his bedroom, McNabb called out to her.
"Juliet, I found something!"
She ran back into the living room. McNabb was staring at a piece of paper lying on the coffee table. She leaned over and read the letter, her gut sinking with every word.
Hello again, Juliet. I'll bet you're wondering where your handsome partner is. Don't worry, he's safe. For now.
Juliet couldn't contain a soft groan, and McNabb pulled out his phone to call Chief Vick.
I won't bother telling you not to contact your chief. I won't insult your intelligence. But I will be contacting you again soon. Until next time...
At the bottom of the page was a heart, the same as the one in the last note. She had to resist every urge she had to reach down and shred the paper with her bare hands.
McNabb closed the phone. "The Chief is sending CSI and backup." He reached out, hesitating before he touched Juliet's shoulder. "We'll find him, Juliet."
Juliet closed her eyes, fighting back an onslaught of tears.
Where are you, Carlton?
PsychPsychPsychPsychPsych
Shawn arrived just a few minutes after the chief did. Ignoring any worries of impropriety, Shawn went straight to Juliet and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
Juliet hesitated for a moment, feeling the Chief's eyes bore into her. "He's gone, Shawn…"
Shawn nodded. "I know, Jules. But don't worry. We'll find him. He'll be okay."
Vick cleared her throat. "Mr. Spencer, I need you over here."
Reluctantly, Shawn released Juliet and went to the Chief.
Vick motioned with her arm. "Tell me anything you pick up." Her best detective was missing, and she was worried.
Placing his hands to his head, Shawn looked around the room. Lassiter's coat and holster were neatly hanging on the coat rack, and his shoes were lined up beside the door. "Lassie came home last night, alone." He spotted the abandoned shot glass and open whiskey bottle. "He had a drink, maybe in an attempt to relax." Though the thought of Lassiter actually relaxing was impossible for Shawn to imagine.
He walked around the couch and noticed deep indentations. "His attacker was crouched behind the couch, waiting for him to come home. When Lassie sat down, the assailant subdued him, left the note, and took Lassie with him."
Vick crossed her arms over her chest. "How did he get Carlton's limp body out of the building without anyone noticing?"
Juliet swallowed a soft groan. "It happened late last night… No one would have seen it. The son of a bitch planned this entire thing…" He had broken into Lassiter's apartment and waited for the right moment.
Now he had Lassiter, and Juliet O'Hara was seeing red.
PsychPsychPsychPsychPsych
After tying Lassiter to the bed, he began to count down the minutes until he would complete the next part of his brilliant plan.
Juliet O'Hara had brought his entire world crashing down around him by taking his wife, the only woman he had ever loved. And now, he would do the same thing to her. Only with this, her pain would be far greater than his.
He would make sure of that.
PsychPsychPsychPsychPsych
Twelve hours passed, and there were still no leads as to where Lassiter was. His entire apartment building had been canvassed, but no one had seen or heard a thing.
Juliet groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had been attempting to read the same paragraph in a file for the past hour, but her mind was elsewhere. She got to her feet and walked around to Lassiter's desk. Pulling his chair out, she sat down in it and rested her open hands against the top of his desk.
He kept an immaculate desk. All of his files were stacked in a tidy pile, his pens sat in a coffee cup, and there was a pack of unopened Sticky notes. But that was all there was. No pictures, nothing personal. He didn't believe in cluttering his desk with what he called 'useless junk'. And when they had first partnered up, he had glared at her as she set a cardboard box on her desk and unpacked several framed photos to line the edge of her desk.
Leaning over, she hesitated before opening his bottom drawer. Expecting more paperwork, she was shocked to see a single picture frame sitting face down. It was the only item in the drawer. Hesitantly, she picked it up and turned it over.
Stunned, Juliet stared at the picture. She recognized it as from the last company picnic, when a double play by herself and Lassiter had won the whole game. She had ran up to him and flung her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug, and someone with a camera had caught the entire moment in a single snapshot. Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she studied the photograph. They rarely touched on purpose, mostly because they were partners. Nothing more. But this single photo had caught something she hadn't noticed before. In Lassiter's expression, she saw confusion, but also deep affection and warmth. He would never come out and say it, but he did care about her.
As she held the picture, Shawn came into the precinct. "Anything, Jules?" he asked gently.
She quickly returned the picture to the drawer and closed it. "Nothing." She rested her elbows on Lassiter's desk and cradled her head in her hands. "Not a damn thing."
His eyes softened as he walked to her side. "We'll get him back, Jules." He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Suddenly irrationally angry, Juliet brushed him off. "Don't touch me, Shawn! If you two hadn't been arguing over me, I would have been at the precinct, with Carlton! This wouldn't have happened!"
Stunned, Shawn took a step back. "Jules..."
She shook her head. "Just go, Shawn. I don't want to see you right now."
He hesitated, uncertain.
"Go!"
Finally he nodded, too stunned to speak. Turning around, he headed out of the squadroom.
She watched him go, her anger and her need to be near him tearing her heart in two. She knew it was irrational to blame him; there were too many variables in this. Even if she hadn't gone to Gus' home, if she had stayed at the squadroom, Carlton would have gone home eventually.
Once Shawn was gone, she got up and went into the cribs. It was the only empty room, so she sat down on a mattress and buried her face in her hands as she cried.
As Shawn went into the parking lot, he thought about going back into the squadroom. But Juliet was angry, and he knew better than to press any harder.
As he stopped and dug around for his keys, he felt a strange presence, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He spun around.
The other man smiled, thrusting a syringe into Shawn's neck before he could cry out.
Suddenly unable to breathe, Shawn crumpled to his knees.
Without hesitation, the assailant grabbed Shawn and roughly tossed his limp body into a dark van. Then he jumped into the driver's seat, the tires squealing as he peeled out of the parking lot.
TBC...
A/N: Review, please!